Journos stage protest in Delhi against police attacks

A group of journalists on Saturday took out a march in the national capital protesting against the attacks on media persons covering the agitations against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act.

The march was organised by the Delhi unit of the Kerala Working Journalists Union (KUWJ) following the attack on Mathrubhumi News reporter Arun Shankar and video journalist Vaishakh Jayapalan at Delhi Gate on Friday and the detention of several reporters in Mangaluru. The protesters also raised the issue of The Hindu journalist Omar Rashid being illegally detained by police in Uttar Pradesh.

The protesters were joined by CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who marched with the journalists from Kerala House to Jantar Mantar, the dharna hotspot in the national capital.

Addressing the protesters, Yechury said, "I stand in solidarity with you. The first target of any intolerant, authoritarian, totalitarian regime is media. The government wants the media to report only what they want people to know and deny media the right to give people the right information. The common feature in the anti-CAA protests is this attack on media."

"The targeting and muzzling of the press is a sign of this government's weakness and failure. But the truth cannot be hidden. We extend our full support to journalists who have been targeted and we will continue to fight for upholding the freedom of the press," he said.

The KUWJ Delhi unit also met Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who was in Delhi, to urge him to intervene to stop the attacks on media persons and the issue of press freedom with concerned authorities.

In its letter, the KUWJ referred to the incidents of attacks on journalists in various parts of the country in the recent protests, including the attacks on Mathrubhumi News reporters and Asianet News reporters during the agitation in Jamia Millia University.

"While covering the clash between lawyers and police in Delhi and during the protests by students of JNU too, journalists were attacked. This is a matter of grave concern. As a Constitutional authority, you can intervene in this matter. We request you to take it up these attacks on journalists and press freedom with the authorities. We hope that you will ensure that justice will be provided to us," the letter said.