September 17 :
National Press Club president Emily Wilkins spoke out on September 17 about the assault on an Indian journalist in Dallas, Texas, by members of Congress, suggesting that the incident may have infringed upon the journalist's First Amendment rights. Following allegations in the media, it was revealed that when interviewing the head of the Indian Overseas Congress in Dallas, a journalist from an Indian news station was physically assaulted by members of the Congress.
Notably, the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution's First Amendment include the freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petitioning.
Rahul Gandhi was reportedly involved in the incident immediately before his three-day tour to the United States. Expanding on the matter, Wilkins stated that the journalist in question—an NPC board member—conducted an interview with Sam Pitroda, chief of the India Overseas Congress, and that the conversation was conducted in a "professional manner with agreed to recording."
She went on to say that the interview was abruptly ended when some members of the IOC staff objected to the journalist's final question, allegedly pushed him, and then confiscated and erased all of his phone's data.
As per a recent report in @IndiaToday and verified in discussions between Mr. Sharma and an NPC Board member, he was in a hotel close to Dallas Airport, waiting for Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to arrive. Gandhi was starting a tour of the United States. In his spare time, Sharma spoke with Sam Pitroda, chair of the India Overseas Congress (IOC). Wilkins stated that the two had previously met and that the interview had been conducted professionally with the consent of the subjects to record it.
A number of people from Mr. Gandhi's advance team and the International Olympic Committee were listening to the interview. Audience members raised objections to the final question, shouted at Sharma, shoved him, and stole his phone, thereby ending the interview. "The group, which included Gandhi's staff, secretly erased files from Sharma's phone," she went on to say.
Sam Pitroda subsequently apologised to the journalist, according to the president of the National Press Club. It was also stressed by her that Pitroda "had no objection" to the whole inquiry.
After being escorted to the airport to meet Gandhi, Pitroda subsequently expressed regret to Sharma. The audience went into a frenzy as he was about to answer Sharma's question, even though he had no problem with it. According to the statement, Rahul Gandhi addressed a comparable inquiry at a Washington Press Club Newsmakers event later that week.
On top of that, she insisted that the security detail know that the First Amendment protects journalists in the United States "regardless of the nationality" of the interviewee, the journalist, or the security detail. The security detail, she continued, had no business interfering with the interview or seizing the reporter's phone.
No matter the nationality of the interviewee, the reporter, or the security detail, all journalists working in the United States enjoy the protections of the First Amendment. Both Mr. Sharma and Mr. Pitroda agreed to have this interview recorded and adhered to certain guidelines. The role of the security team was unrelated to the interview's substance or length. According to Wilkins, they lacked the authority to seize Sharma's phone or remove any anything from it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticized the Congress Party (CLP) over the assault allegations and demanded to know who ordered it. The "true mindset" of the Congress party is on display here, according to BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi.
In the midst of the controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party, mocking their "Mohabbat Ki Dukaan" slogan.
