Assaulted by Rahul’s team in US after question to Pitroda over Bangladesh Hindus: Journalist

Speaking in Jammu’s Doda on Saturday, Modi said, “Today, I read this news. A representative from an Indian newspaper who had gone to America. The way he faced cruelty in America. He has kept his whole story in front of the public. On American soil, an Indian son, and that too a journalist who works for the Indian Constitution, was locked in a room, and the way he was treated…Are you improving Indian prestige by beating up an Indian journalist on American soil?”

“The word Constitution does not suit you. Brothers and sisters, you have to be very careful of Congress’s false promises. What the Congress does, and the kind of government it runs. The example of this can be seen in the neighbourhood. In Himachal, to form a government and get votes, they made promises which ruined the whole state. Today, the small state is on the street. The roads, water, and electricity are shut,” Modi said during an election rally on Saturday.

Modi was referring to an alleged incident involving journalist Rohit Sharma, who is associated with India Today. The incident took place on September 7 during Sharma’s interview with Pitroda in Dallas, Texas before Gandhi arrived in the city. Gandhi was in the United States for four days.

In the Opinion section of India Today, Sharma wrote: “But then, my final question changed everything: ‘Will Rahul Gandhi raise the issue of Hindus being killed in Bangladesh during his meetings with US lawmakers?’ Before Sam could fully answer – beginning with, ‘It’s up to Rahul and the lawmakers to decide what’s relevant, I can’t speak on their behalf but…’ – chaos erupted. One person in the room yelled that the question was ‘controversial’, and others joined in, escalating their tone. Then, a member of Rahul’s advance team seized my phone and began shouting, ‘Band karo! Band karo!’—’Stop it! Stop the interview!’”

“One individual tried to grab my mic, but I resisted. They managed to stop the recording by forcibly taking my phone. Amid the commotion, Sam was whisked away to the airport to meet Rahul Gandhi,” he wrote.

Alleging that what followed was “a nightmare”, Sharma wrote that “at least 15 men remained in the room, demanding I delete the last question from the interview”. He said that though he stood his ground, “they persisted, taking my phone and rummaging through it, even attempting to delete the interview”.

“Although they managed to delete it from my photos library, they couldn’t access the recently deleted folder, which required my Face ID…They proceeded to delete the interview from my recently deleted folder. Desperate to ensure no trace of the interview remained, they even checked my iCloud – my phone was in airplane mode during the recording, preventing the video from syncing,” Sharma alleged.

Sharma further said that he sent a message to Pitroda, telling him about what happened. “He suggested we could record another interview the next day. But unsurprisingly, it never happened,” he wrote.

He also wrote that “while Rahul Gandhi later spoke to members of the American press about how the freedom of journalism had shrunk under India’s current government, his team was busy silencing me”.

“He’s repeated this talking point in every US visit, but it seems the value he places on press freedom doesn’t extend to his own camp,” Sharma said.

“In a twist of fate, a colleague of mine who moderated a Press Club event posed the very same question to Rahul – ‘Will he address the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh?’ – which was later tweeted out by the INC’s official Twitter handle,” wrote Sharma.

In a post on X, Sharma, said: “…While it’s natural to feel like your life is at risk in situations like this, I trust that God is always watching over me. Thanks for all your concerns!” As per his X profile, Sharma has written for several Indian news organisations, is based in Washington DC, and covers the White House.

Speaking to India Today on Friday, Pitroda said he “was not aware of the incident”.

“I wasn’t there. I do know I gave an interview to Rohit Sharma. He was very pleasant and we had a decent conversation. And I am not aware of it. If something happened, I will look into it. I will follow up. I have no idea,” he said. “I need to find out the facts.”