(Neelam Jeena)The Press Club of India and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) strongly condemn the police brutality and use of force against media persons in different parts of the country while they were discharging their journalistic duties during the coverage of the ongoing protests against CAA/NRC.
It may be noted that Kerala based media team that included Arun Shankar and Vaisakh Jayapalan of Mathrubhumi News were brutally manhandled as they received serious head injuries and their cameras were snatched away on December 20, 2019 at Delhi Gate in Central Delhi while rough treatment, loaded with threats of dire consequences and filthy abuses, was meted out to The Hindu reporter Omar Rashid in Lucknow where he was taken from one police station to another whole day-long for questioning for something he had no clue. He was only let off later in the day after the police officials received a call from the CMO. We hereby also reiterate our condemnation of other police assaults against media persons over the last few days be it Assam, Uttar Pradesh, or Karnataka among other states.
The highhandedness of the police in all these states is deplorable. While we acknowledge the duty of the police force to maintain law and order, they should also be aware of the duties of journalists to cover such events without any hindrance.We demand that the Union Home Ministry should take urgent cognizance of the police attack on Delhi journalists. We also demand that Uttar Pradesh government initiate an urgent probe against the police persons guilty of illegally detaining and harassing Omar Rashid.
PRESS CLUB OF INDIA & INDIAN WOMEN PRESS CORPS
