The Editors Guild of India on Saturday expressed strong objection to a senior BJP functionary conducting a Twitter poll on senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, asking whether he should handle publicity for the Islamic State (IS). The Guild called it a “deplorable act” and “McCarthyist”. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Guild said that the Twitter poll conducted by Amit Malviya, the BJP’s information technology chief, was “not only tasteless, it also questioned the integrity and patriotism of Mr Sardesai, who is a journalist of standing and a former President of the Editors Guild of India”. The Editors Guild of India has issued a statement pic.twitter.com/dFrGYuTYJq — Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) December 28, 2019 The Guild stated that the Twitter poll “by a national head of the BJP also raises questions on the party’s commitment to healthy debate and dissent without allowing disagreement to degenerate into abuse”. It urged Malviya to withdraw the tweet concerned and asked the BJP to “caution him strongly”. In his poll, Malviya wrote “Rajdeep Sardesai should handle PR for ISIS” and gave four options for Twitter users to vote on: agree, strongly agree, disagree, he is irrelevant. Sardesai tweeted, “I am grateful to Guild and many fellow journalists for their support. Let me reiterate: I bear zero ill will to Mr @amitmalaviya. Hopefully, we can put a close to name-calling and libellous attacks.”
