War of words: Barkha Dutt takes on Arnab Gosmami in FB post

Her Opinion With Neha

We all know Barkha Dutt never minces words when expressing an opinion, whether it's on national television or on her social media handle.  The 43 year old Dutt has always been fearless, you do remember her reporting from the frontlines during the Kargil war? Well, this time Dutt has taken on ex-colleague and host of one of the most watched prime-time shows on news television, Arnab Goswami. That's the man behind the "nation wants to know." The Times Now Editor-in-Chief demanded strict action against “pseudo-secular and pro-Pakistan” journalists, which elicited a strong reaction from Barkha Dutt.

WATCH: Arnab's take on #ProPakDovesSilent https://t.co/laZ2L3o9a4

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 26, 2016

Barkha very bluntly got back to this “So he drones on and on about Pro Pakistan Doves without one word on the JK alliance agreement that commits the BJP and PDP to talks with Pakistan and Hurriyat and is silent on Modi’s own Pakistan outreach- neither of which I object to- but since Arnab Goswami measures patriotism by such views why is he so silent on the government? Chamchagiri?”

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Soon enough, twitter was abuzz with reactions, with a few fellow journalists coming out in support of Barkha's outburst.

Senior Journalist Sagarika Ghose  had this to say:

Journalists must question ALL politicians.Cong, BJP, TMC etc. Trying to silence the press in name of "nationalism" is nothing but censorship

— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) July 27, 2016

This from another veteran Vir Sanghvi:

Wow! Agenda of Barkha-Zakka? Good for young Zakka to be hyphenated with a veteran like Barkha by you guys.Well done! https://t.co/ZdNDvlWNVJ

— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) July 27, 2016

Some of course just saw the humour in the situation:

Barkha didi should attack Arnab dada more. That will lead to Arnab getting even more aggressive. And we can watch the fun. LOL :)

— Realist_Indian (@India_Progress) July 27, 2016

Dutt though was clearly on a mission to address the issue, and went on to question other journalists, who were keeping mum about the whole incident.

"Imagine, a journalist actually exhorts the government to shut down sections of the media, misrepresents them as isi agents and terror sympathisers, calls for them to be tried and acted against. And our fraternity remains locked into politically correct and timid silence," she wrote.

She said that she was no "shrinking violet" and didn't give a damn about what he said.

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"I hope I will always be someone whose journalism you loathe, because trust me, the feeling is so utterly mutual that it would kill me to be on the same side of any issue as you," she stated.

Strong words these! Over to Arnab Goswami for round two? Watch this space.

Feature Image Credit: jagrukbharat.com