Scribe grilled for saying Centre denies jobs to Muslim yoga instructors

A Delhi-based journalist was on Tuesday questioned by the police for his news report claiming that the government had been discriminating against Muslims in appointment as yoga instructors in the Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) ministry.

Journalist Pushp Sharma of Milli Gazette, where the story was published, was questioned at Kotla Mubarakpur police station in south Delhi on a complaint by a senior Ayush ministry official, police said.

A senior police officer said that Sharma had earlier been arrested in 2009 on the charge of extorting government officials by threatening sting operations on them.

There were also allegations that Sharma even tried to extort police officers, the officer said.

The ministry had earlier condemned the ‘misreporting’ which it claimed was aimed at causing a ‘chasm’ between different sections of society and ‘promoting disharmony and mistrust with ulterior motives’.

‘The ministry of Ayush has noted with anguish certain mischievous misinformation being spread in certain section of media and social media quoting a reply to an RTI (Right to Information) query by mentioning a fabricated draft as Annexure I to that letter, which has never been issued by the ministry of Ayush or any of its agencies,’ the ministry had said in a statement.

The Milli Gazette issued a statement on its Facebook page, saying ‘a police force claiming to be from Kotla Mubarakpur police station in New Delhi picked up journalist Pushp Sharma from his home in Lajpat Nagar at around 6.30 pm today’.

It also claimed that Sharma has been arrested. However, police did not confirm report of his arrest.