Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said here on Wednesday that the arrest of Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami in Mumbai is the “beginning of the end” of the Maharashtra coalition government.
Speaking to media persons at the international airport here, he said that the Maharashtra government should release him immediately.
He condemned the arrest of the editor.
There may be ideological differences. But the way the government arrested and treated the editor later is shocking, he said.
The Minister said that Mr. Goswami had even spoken against the BJP many a time. When Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and after he became the Prime Minister, many television channels have spoken badly against Mr. Modi. But the BJP governments did not conduct themselves the way the Maharashtra government conducted itself on Wednesday.
“Why Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are silent now?,” Mr. Joshi asked. He said that many who had earlier raised their voice in the name of threat to the freedom of speech and expression and resorted to “award wapsi”, are not speaking against the arrest of the editor.
