Journalist Deepak Chaurasia heckled by Shaheen Bagh protesters, his colleagues condemn the act

In a video clip, Chaurasia was seen being stopped from reporting and then he was heckled.

Sharing the clip on Twitter, the journalist said, "I was hearing the Constitution is in crisis. I was hearing the fight is to save democracy. But I had experienced nothing less than a mob lynching when I went there to spread the message of the protests across the country."

Condemning the act, veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted, "Unacceptable heckling/manhandling of senior journalist @DChaurasia2312 at Shaheen Bagh. You have a problem with a section of the media? Just switch off the channel.. breaking cameras, manhandling journalists is plain and simple goondagiri. Culprits should be arrested."

Journalist Nidhi Razdan tweeted, "This attack on a journalist who was there to do his job is simply unacceptable. This only hurts the genuine protests at Shaheen Bagh."

Hitting out at the protesters, Navika Kumar said, "Is Freedom of Speech only for a few? Preventing somebody from speaking or doing his job cannot be part of a Democracy. So Shaheen Bagh is Democracy limited to a few??"

However in a different reaction, journalist Sreenivasan Jain tweeted, "Folks like Deepak C (once a fine reporter) have stopped being journalists long ago. The hate they incite daily has consequences. This brand of 'journalism' has to be fought through legit. means. Not through pushing and shoving."

Taking a dig at Sreenivasan's comment, journalist Smita Prakash referred to former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi's bizarre statement following the 1984 Sikh riots and tweeted, "Umm this sounds very much like when a banyan tree falls-earth shakes."

Meanwhile, the Shaheen Bagh protesters have come out with a tweet condemning the attack on Chaurasia.

The protesters said in a statement, "We have been apprised of an incident related to Deepak Chaurasia. We are looking into what exactly happened, but whatever the reason, manhandling someone is unacceptable. This is not what Shaheen Bagh represents. We condemn any such acts unequivocally.

Multiple media outlets have played a role in taking the voice of Shaheen Bagh to the people and still continue to do so. We are aggrieved by the recent incidents that have come to light."

The protesters, mostly Muslim women, are agitating continuously against the CAA for over a month now in Shaheen Bagh.

(Image Credit: Deepak Chaurasia Twitter)