'My Sound Was Butchered': Mumbai Model Rhiya Ahir Hits Back After Live TV Debate With Arnab Goswami Goes Viral

Mumbai model and activist Rhiya Ahir has hit back after her recent live television debate with Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami went viral, alleging that technical issues affected the audio during the discussion and prevented her from properly responding to other participants.

The debate, which centred on student protests and the controversy surrounding the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), drew sharply contrasting reactions online. Republic TV presented the exchange as a moment in which Goswami confronted the "Gen-Z" activist over her participation in the protests, including asking her how many stanzas there are in Vande Mataram.

Supporters of Ahir, however, claimed that she held her ground during the heated discussion and pushed back against Goswami's questioning and interruptions.

After the debate, Ahir raised concerns over the conduct of the programme and its audio quality. In a message to a channel guest coordinator, she said the sound was "entirely butchered" and that, except for the first two minutes, she could not hear other people speaking.

"I couldn't even reply when other people were talking, addressing me or at all," Ahir said in the message, according to screenshots shared by her.

The channel's guest coordinator responded that Ahir's voice had been "very much audible" and suggested that she refer to the published video once it was available.

Ahir subsequently reiterated that she could not hear the other participants.

In another message, she criticised the manner in which Goswami addressed panellists, saying that there was a way to maintain "decorum" even on a news channel with a national audience. She also said the audio problems had affected her ability to participate in the discussion.

The screenshots also show the coordinator praising Ahir after the debate, describing her as "really so funny" and saying she had taken the debate "at ease". The coordinator further told her that very few people could debate with Goswami and praised her for speaking well.

The exchange has since become part of the wider online debate over the televised confrontation, with supporters of Ahir portraying it as a strong performance while Republic TV's presentation of the programme framed it as Goswami exposing what it described as a politically motivated youth protest ecosystem.