An open letter to Rajdeep Sardesai: Devendra Fadnavis tells senior journalist he is biased, ill-informed

A couple of days ago, consulting editor at The India Today group, Rajdeep Sardesai wrote an open letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis slamming the state government over various issues — the beef ban in Maharashtra, a ban on the sale of meat during the Jain fasting period of Paryushan, Rakesh Maria’s transfer and omission from the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, and the latest decision to make arrests on sedition charges. Fadnavis, on Tuesday, replied to the letter and slammed the media for bashing the government with an agenda even without having the full picture. Both the letters were exclusively published by The Hindustan Times. Sardesai, in his letter, had asked Fadnavis the rationale behind banning sale of meat and beef in the state. “The first time I saw you was in 2010 during a television debate on the Adarsh land scam. I was impressed with your debating skills and tough, uncompromising stand on corruption. Sadly, a year later, the enthusiasm with which one greeted your arrival is now being matched by growing cynicism.”  The CM in his reply tells Sardesai pointedly that the Congress-NCP government in 2004 decided to close slaughter house for two days during Paryushan. “Surprisingly, none of you ever objected to it until we came to power. Obviously you were comfortable with the pseudo-secular image of the previous government, howsoever corrupt and non-performing it was. It’s quite possible that you know this but it doesn’t suit your agenda.” Fadnavis, in his own words, said that he doesn’t reply to every open letter by ‘senior’ journalists, and called Sardesai ‘biased and confused’. The Maharashtra government, it must be noted, faced a lot of flak and criticism after it decided to ban the sale of meat during Paryushan festival. The Bombay High Court had on 14 September stayed the ban on sale of meat for today in Mumbai imposed in the wake of Jain community’s Paryushan fasting period. The court had, while clarifying that the stay will be limited to the Mumbai jurisdiction area, refused to interfere with the ban on slaughter of meat and closure of abattoirs. The High Court had also observed that though the Maharashtra government issued a circular in 2004 banning meat sale on two days, it was never implemented fully, adding that there has been inconsistency in the stands of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the state government. Twitterati hailed Fadnavis’ letter and #DevendraSlapsRajdeep soon started trending on the micro-blogging site. Fadnavis, who replied to Sardesai’s letter in the same order the latter had asked him, said that transfers like Maria’s, were very common. “In the case of Rakesh Maria, you seem to be confused. Your post-script says the Sheena Bora murder case should not have assumed the kind of importance it was accorded by the media. Then why did you choose to write on it, linking it with the transfer of the city police chief?” At Sardesai questioning the government’s decision on guidelines to be followed by the police while making arrests on sedition charges, Fadnavis pointedly tells the senior journalist to go through the details before “you pursue your leftist agenda vigorously and passionately.” Fadnavis repeates in his letter saying that the Maharashtra government “did not take the decision to ban meat”. In fact no “new order” went from his office. He says this in the case of new guidelines on sedition charges as well. The letter ends with Fadnavis saying that meat ban or not, the common man only expects roti and the chief minister is more concerned about that than anything else. But if that indeed is a CM’s job, isn’t the media’s job to ask questions when draconian laws are brought back into a civil society? And what are these measures to provide the aforementioned roti with which the chief minister has been so concerned?