Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday warned individuals “posing as journalists and posting offensive and abusive content online against public representatives” about impending harsh action against them. Upset over abusive posts about his family and him, he said, “they will be stripped and paraded in public”.
Replying to the queries raised by the members in the assembly on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, the CM said that a law could be passed to stop vicious campaigns online. He said the time had come to define “who is a journalist”.
With BRS boycotting his speech, Revanth added, “Let media organisations, their associations, I&PR, and other authorised agencies define a journalist, list out their names, and give them to the govt. They can be exempted. Others will be treated as criminals, and action will be taken as per law.”
A visibly upset Revanth added, “They (BRS) condemned the arrest of two women journalists recently who had posted derogatory and abusive language about my family members and me. I have been patient but how long should I be tolerant when bad language has been used in social media posts against the women in my family?”
He asked if BRS leaders would keep quiet if such language was used for their mothers, sisters and wives.
“I will not tolerate this any more,” an angry Revanth said.
“I will have them (people who put up abusive posts) stripped and paraded because they have no right to comment on women in my family.”
Using the choicest abuses in Telugu, a farmer was seen in a video on a local YouTube news channel saying he would beat up Revanth’s family members and Congress leaders for failing to keep their election promises. A case was registered on Mar 10 and the two women running the YouTube channel were arrested on Mar 12. Police later accused the women of shooting the video inside the BRS office.
“They (BRS) brought paid artists to their party office, recorded it and posted it on social media. Now, they are upset because police cases have been booked against the two women. Speaker sir, if you see the language used by the girls, you will be shocked. This is not Telangana culture,” Revanth said.
“My blood is boiling. What is the language they have used against the women in my family? Are they human beings? Those who posted the content on social media and those who condemned their arrest, will they tolerate it if such language is used against their wife, mother or daughter?” Revanth asked.
The chief minister said he was asking the leader of the opposition, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, to admonish his children.
“KCR, do not be under the impression that you can derive political mileage by hurting us psychologically. If you cross the line, the consequences will be dire. I am being tolerant and stopping the youth, or else they would hit the roads, strip you all before beating you black and blue. Stringent action will be taken as per law. No one will be spared, and I will follow and respect the law and Constitution,” the CM said.
Replying to the queries raised by the members in the assembly on the motion of thanks to the governor’s address, the CM said that a law could be passed to stop vicious campaigns online. He said the time had come to define “who is a journalist”.
With BRS boycotting his speech, Revanth added, “Let media organisations, their associations, I&PR, and other authorised agencies define a journalist, list out their names, and give them to the govt. They can be exempted. Others will be treated as criminals, and action will be taken as per law.”
A visibly upset Revanth added, “They (BRS) condemned the arrest of two women journalists recently who had posted derogatory and abusive language about my family members and me. I have been patient but how long should I be tolerant when bad language has been used in social media posts against the women in my family?”
He asked if BRS leaders would keep quiet if such language was used for their mothers, sisters and wives.
“I will not tolerate this any more,” an angry Revanth said.
“I will have them (people who put up abusive posts) stripped and paraded because they have no right to comment on women in my family.”
Using the choicest abuses in Telugu, a farmer was seen in a video on a local YouTube news channel saying he would beat up Revanth’s family members and Congress leaders for failing to keep their election promises. A case was registered on Mar 10 and the two women running the YouTube channel were arrested on Mar 12. Police later accused the women of shooting the video inside the BRS office.
“They (BRS) brought paid artists to their party office, recorded it and posted it on social media. Now, they are upset because police cases have been booked against the two women. Speaker sir, if you see the language used by the girls, you will be shocked. This is not Telangana culture,” Revanth said.
“My blood is boiling. What is the language they have used against the women in my family? Are they human beings? Those who posted the content on social media and those who condemned their arrest, will they tolerate it if such language is used against their wife, mother or daughter?” Revanth asked.
The chief minister said he was asking the leader of the opposition, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, to admonish his children.
“KCR, do not be under the impression that you can derive political mileage by hurting us psychologically. If you cross the line, the consequences will be dire. I am being tolerant and stopping the youth, or else they would hit the roads, strip you all before beating you black and blue. Stringent action will be taken as per law. No one will be spared, and I will follow and respect the law and Constitution,” the CM said.
