Bengaluru: Two individuals including an Indian Youth Congress worker have filed police complaints against BJP Information Technology department head Amit Malviya and journalist Arnab Goswami, accusing them of “masterminding a criminally motivated campaign” to disseminate “false information” that the Congress has an office in Türkiye.
Republic TV ran a visual 15 May on its “digital platform” in which it “erroneously” depicted a building as the Congress party office in Turkiye. The clip was also shared on X by Malviya.
Indian Youth Congress worker Shridhar M.M. and a lawyer, Shrikant Swaroop B.N, filed separate police complaints against Malviya and Goswami in Bengaluru, in Congress-ruled Karnataka.
While Shridhar’s complaint, shared on X by the Karnataka unit of the Indian Youth Congress handle, only mentions Malviya, Swaroop’s also names Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV. Swaroop’s complaint was shared on X by the Indian Youth Congress.
🚨 Time’s up for Amit Malviya and Arnab Goswami 🚨
An FIR has been filed in Karnataka under non-bailable sections against @amitmalviya and @republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for defaming the constitutional office of Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi.
Their relentless… pic.twitter.com/mVpja8JR6v
— Indian Youth Congress (@IYC) May 20, 2025
Shridhar said in his complaint that India is going through “testing times” given the tensions with Pakistan, and in such a situation, Malviya “posting such malicious content” can promote enmity towards the Congress and incite violence against its leader Rahul Gandhi.
“(It) is also prejudicial towards national integrity and peace & harmony in the society in such testing times,” he alleges.
He references social media posts by Malviya, including the one in which he states that Gandhi, “is speaking the language of Pakistan and its benefactors”. The post also includes an AI image that juxtaposes Gandhi’s face with Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir.
It is not surprising that Rahul Gandhi is speaking the language of Pakistan and its benefactors. He hasn’t congratulated the Prime Minister on the flawless #OperationSindoor, which unmistakably showcases India’s dominance. Instead, he repeatedly asks how many jets we lost—a… pic.twitter.com/BT47CNpddj
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 20, 2025
This came amid a downswing in India-Turkiye relations after New Delhi revealed that Pakistan used 300-400 Turkish drones to infiltrate Indian airspace during the military conflict between 7 and 10 May. Since then, Indians have in large numbers cancelled planned trips to Türkiye. Several Indian institutions, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIT-Bombay and Jamia Millia Islamia, have suspended MoUs with Turkish universities.
In his complaint, Swaroop accused Malviya and Goswami of “masterminding a heinous and criminally motivated campaign” to disseminate “patently false information”, to “deceive the Indian public, defame the Congress, manipulate nationalist sentiments, incite public unrest and undermine national security”.
“The actions of Mr. Malviya and Mr. Goswami represent an unprecedented attack on India’s democratic foundations, public safety, and national security. Their calculated misuse of influence to spread falsehoods with criminal intent demands the harshest response,” according to the complaint.
Both complaints have been filed under 192 (provocation to incite riots) and 352 (intentionally insulting someone with intent to cause breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The communication and legal cell of the Congress party had warned Malviya and Goswami of legal recourse after the clip was shared online. While Republic TV issued a corrigendum on 20 May, Malviya remains defiant. “The FIR is for this video. Imagine,” he posted on X, responding to the Indian Youth Congress sharing the complaint on its official handle.
The FIR is for this video. Imagine. https://t.co/bRNjd8kTMs pic.twitter.com/77Vd3EkVO3
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 20, 2025
The BJP leader then doubled down on his attacks against the Congress. First, he went after Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge for reportedly calling Operation Sindoor a “chhutputt yuddh” (a small war) which, the BJP leader claimed, inflicted “more harm to India’s cause than the entire Pakistani establishment put together”.
In a subsequent post, he said, “The Congress is free to file as many lawsuits —but that doesn’t absolve it from answering a serious question: Why did it open an office in Turkey in 2019? And why was this done just days after Turkey openly backed Pakistan at the UN on the Kashmir issue?” he said in a post Wednesday afternoon.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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