The Editors Guild of India on Monday condemned reports of police brutality against media persons covering the protests against the amended Citizenship Act in different parts of the country.
Pointing to incidents in Mangaluru and Uttar Pradesh, the Guild called on the Home Ministry to provide adequate protection to journalists on the field. "Using force or physical violence against journalists on duty throttles the very voice of democracy and media freedom," the Guild said in a statement.
"The need of the hour is to ensure proper and responsible coverage," it added. The statement was issued by Guild president Shekhar Gupta, general secretary A.K. Bhattacharya and treasurer Sheela Bhatt.
Here is the full text of the statement:
The Editors Guild of India condemns the various acts of violence and brutality committed by police forces, in particular those in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, against media persons in different parts of the country in the last one week.
The Guild reminds the police forces across the country that journalists are present at different venues, where protests are taking place, as part of their Constitutionally guaranteed duties of gathering information and disseminating it among the people through their respective media platforms. Using force or physical violence against journalists on duty throttles the very voice of democracy and media freedom.
The Guild urges the Union Home Ministry to direct police forces in different states to offer adequate protection to journalists engaged in coverage of the ongoing protests. Instead of targeting them for physical attack, the need of the hour is to ensure proper and responsible coverage, a goal that cannot be achieved by such acts of violence and brutality against journalists on duty.
