The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has condemned the recent assault on local journalist Krishna Tiwari by the Chief Development Officer, Unnao, Divyanshu Patel, and demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government take strict action against him.
The Guild, in a statement on Monday, said the assault on Mr. Tiwari was a part of the continuing trend of heavy-handedness by the the State authorities in dealing with the media, which was deeply disturbing.
The incident happened on July 10 when Mr. Tiwari was covering the block ‘pramukh’ elections. In a video that has gone viral on social media, Mr .Tiwari is seen being beaten up by Mr. Patel and some alleged BJP workers.
“This incident has come against the backdrop of increased persecution of journalists in the State of U.P., as the administration has punished, penalised, and incarcerated journalists in an effort to intimidate them from freely reporting on crimes, state excesses, and the management of the pandemic,” the Guild noted.
Siddique Kappan, the journalist who was arrested while reporting on the rape and death of a Dalit woman in Hathras in October 2020, still remains in jail under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act), in spite of several appeals by the family and the civil society to afford him a fair trial and treatment, it pointed out.
Mr. Patel has subsequently apologised to the journalist, but the Guild stated that it was not enough. “This attitude of heavy-handedness by the administration is hurting the democratic rights of the media, which becomes all the more crucial given that the state goes into polls next year. EGI demands that strict action be taken against the official and that concrete steps be taken to improve the environment for independent journalism in the state,” it added.
