Arnab Goswami questions Congress’ link with Turkiye; faces FIR for a frame

New Delhi: The Congress party has filed an FIR against BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly misrepresenting a picture of the Istanbul Congress Center as an "INC office abroad." 

The visual was part of a larger commentary questioning the Congress party’s silence on Türkiye’s open support for Pakistan and the opposition’s failure to condemn it.

The FIR is for this video. Imagine. https://t.co/bRNjd8kTMs pic.twitter.com/77Vd3EkVO3

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 20, 2025

But while the Congress sprang into legal action over a stock image, it remained conspicuously silent on the crux of Goswami’s video: the now-viral moment where senior leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera visibly shifted microphones and dodged questions on whether India should boycott Türkiye, a nation openly backing Pakistan in international forums.

The core of the video was a political critique. But instead of answering that criticism, the Congress has gone after a picture.

The FIR, filed in Bengaluru, calls the act a "heinous and criminally motivated campaign to deceive the Indian public, defame a political institution, and undermine national security." 

It was a dramatic poster—possibly over-simplified, possibly a stretch—but certainly not the gravest threat to democracy.

The image of the Istanbul Congress Center is widely available in the public domain. Even if its use in the context of Congress’ foreign tilt was provocative, FIRs under Sections 192 and 332 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita suggest a disproportionate response. Especially so when those who filed the FIR have shown no urgency to clarify the party's actual stance on Türkiye’s diplomatic alignment with Pakistan.

Instead of addressing whether Congress condemns Türkiye’s anti-India position, or supports the call for a boycott—as many Indians have done voluntarily—the party’s silence has only deepened suspicion. 

Legal intimidation against journalists and political opponents over such content dangerously veers toward information control, not fact correction.

If Congress has a factual objection, a press statement or clarification would have sufficed. 

A legal complaint demanding arrests and invoking “national emergency” over a campaign graphic says more about the party’s insecurities than the accused’s intentions.

The FIR even claims that Goswami and Malviya “incited public unrest,” “undermined national security,” and “subverted India’s democratic framework”, allegations bordering on absurdity for a video that essentially highlighted Congress’ visible unease on a critical geopolitical matter.

That Goswami’s video struck a nerve is clear—not just from the FIR, but from the Congress party’s calculated evasion of his central question.

If this is the new benchmark for criminality, then hundreds of political parties, activists, and journalists across the spectrum should be facing FIRs daily for similar or worse content. This isn’t about upholding truth; it’s about silencing those who ask uncomfortable questions.

The real issue here isn't whether the Istanbul Congress Center was confused with an INC office. That can be corrected. The real issue is the Congress party's refusal to confront valid political questions, choosing instead to shoot the messenger.