Threats to journalist an attack on freedom of expression: Editors Guild

Stating that it was “deplorable for a senior journalist to be threatened in such a manner at a leading university”, the guild said this kind of “mob mentality” to silence those with divergent views was “unacceptable”.

Varadarajan had been invited to deliver a public lecture on “Democracy, the Media and Freedom of Expression” by the president of the Allahabad University Students’ Union at the university’s Senate Hall on January 20.

After students belonging to the ABVP threatened violence, the vice-chancellor withdrew permission for the programme and got the district administration to prohibit it from being held on campus, the Guild alleged.

“The ABVP declared that Varadarajan was ‘anti-national’ and would not be allowed to set foot inside the campus. Varadarajan was forced to deliver the lecture at a hall near the campus. After the lecture, when Varadarajan went to meet the V-C in his office along with the student union president, ABVP members surrounded the exit. The university security warned Varadarajan that they could not guarantee his safety, and it was only after police arrived that he was escorted to safety,” the Guild said in a statement issued by its president Raj Chengappa.