Hyderabad, July 29 -- Maulana Sajid Rashidi, who is a regular participant in Indian news debates and is famous for his frank opinions, was attacked on Tuesday within a Noida-based television studio by two men reportedly linked with the Samajwadi Party.

The attack took place at a break in a TV debate during which Rashidi had allegedly made inflammatory statements against Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav. A clip of the attack has since become viral on social media, with two men, identified as Mohit Nagar and Kuldeep Bhati, approaching Rashidi and slapping him repeatedly before studio security personnel came to intervene.

Rashidi subsequently lodged a complaint with the police and accused the attack of having been planned. He claimed that i...