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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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Andhra Jyothi offices attacked

Special Correspondent

Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi activists object to a report

Newspaper’s offices in Hyderabad, Warangal and Visakhapatnam attacked
Threatening calls received, attack took place soon after policemen left the Hyderabad office

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Activists of organisations representing the Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes set fire to copies of the Telugu daily Andhra Jyothi in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) on Monday attacked the offices of Telugu daily Andhra Jyothi here and in Warangal and Visakhapatnam to protest against the publication of a report they perceived as insulting to their cause.

A spokesperson for the newspaper said that while the attacks on its offices in Warangal and Visakhapatnam were not very serious, the Hyderabad offices were damaged.

Petrol splashed

Around 3 p.m., about 25 lathi-wielding agitators entered the office at Jubilee Hills after breaking the windshields of two cars parked outside and the large, plate-glass doors. On being stopped by some executives when they entered the Advertisement Department, the activists splashed petrol on their feet and the floor. When the petrol was lit by an agitator, the executives stomped out the fire.

Unprecedented

Andhra Jyothi Managing Director V. Radhakrishna said his office had been receiving threatening calls since morning. The police, on being informed about the calls, posted some personnel, but the attackers struck minutes after the policemen left. He said some powerful forces were behind the “unprecedented attack.” He said the inquiry would expose them and the newspaper was prepared to face any situation.

Even as the attack was on, MRPS president Manda Krishna, A.P. Backward Classes Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah and Mala Mahanadu leader Jupudi Prabhakar Rao staged a joint protest near Dr. Ambedkar’s statue on the Tank Bund.

They held that the daily had published the item with the intent of tarnishing the image of leaders who were striving for decades for the uplift of the weaker sections.

Referring to another news item published by the daily two days ago, they alleged all this was a design to promote the interests of film star Chiranjeevi, who planned to float a political party without any record whatsoever of working for the underprivileged.

Hurt over report

Mr. Krishna said the SCs, the STs and the BCs felt hurt over the report and wanted an unconditional apology from the newspaper’s management. Else, the paper would have to face their wrath, he warned.

The police picked up two persons believed to have participated in the attack. The attack was roundly condemned by political parties and journalists’ organisations as an attack on the freedom of the press.

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