A senior journalist, Rakesh Sharma from Dainik Jagran, was hospitalised after he was reportedly attacked while covering a BJP protest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on Wednesday. The protest was in response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. The incident happened at Kalibari Chowk.

Journalists and media organisations have strongly condemned the assault and are demanding that an FIR be filed against those responsible. A video showing the assault on a journalist has gone viral on social media. Sharma, the journalist involved, said he was covering a protest by BJP legislators Devinder Manyal, Rajiv Jasrotia, and Bharat Bhushan when Himanshu Sharma, a party activist, accused the journalists of promoting separatist views. This happened because the journalists raised questions about security, which is under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry.

Manyal responded in a friendly atmosphere to the questions and mentioned that they are writing to the Prime Minister to urge decisive action against the terrorists. However, the party's office bearers became irritated when they were asked whether the Pahalgam terror attack and the infiltration of terrorists into Kathua reflected the central government's failure to stop infiltration from across the border.

The journalists objected to Himanshu's repeated remarks, which led them to decide to leave the venue and boycott the protest. Meanwhile, Himanshu was joined by several others, including Ravinder Singh, Ashwani Sharma, Manjit Singh, Tony, and Parveen Chuna. Together, they attacked him in full public view. Sharma stated that the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ravinder Singh, saved him and later took him to the Government Medical College hospital for treatment.

A group of senior journalists met with the Senior Superintendent of Police, Shobhit Saxena, to demand action, including the filing of an FIR against the accused and their arrest. The journalists, who wore black bands as a symbol of protest, also gathered at Shaheedi Chowk in Kathua to demonstrate. They announced that they would boycott all BJP events until the party takes action against the accused. In a show of solidarity, some journalists staged a protest outside the press club in Jammu in support of their colleagues in Kathua.  

The Pradesh Congress Committee has strongly criticised the attack on Sharma, stating that his only fault was asking important questions about the security situation, especially with the rise in terror attacks. It is deeply unfortunate and concerning that questioning by journalists is now being treated as a crime. What could be more condemnable than a well-known journalist from a national newspaper being unsafe? PCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said in a statement. He has called for an apology from BJP President J.P. Nadda over the incident and demanded that appropriate action be taken against those responsible.