As India witnessed the murder of three journalists this year (eight since Jan 2015), the demand for special protection laws to journalists on duty is also mounting. Protesting rigorously against the killing of two scribes in Bihar and Jharkhand this month, the media fraternity across the country rose to the occasion for a national action plan for safeguarding the media persons.
The first incident of journalist murder this year took place in Uttar Pradesh, where a young scribe named Tarun Mishra was shot dead on 13 February 2016 at Gosaiganj locality in Sultanpur district. Mishra (32) used to work for a Hindi daily named Jan Sandesh Times and he was targeted for highlighting the illegal soil mining activities in his district. Three motorcycle riding miscreants shot at him near to his residential locality in Ambedkar Nagar and he succumbed to his severe injuries in the hospital.
The second casualty was reported from Jharkhand, where a television news channel reporter was killed by the local goons. Two unidentified people targeted Indradev Yadav (also known as Akhilesh Pratap Singh) at Dewaria locality of Chatra district on the night of 12 May. Yadav (35), who used to work for Taaza News, faced the bullets in front of the village Panchayat office and died on his way to the hospital.
Within 24 hours, the third case of journalist murder came to light from its neighboring State of Bihar. Unidentified gunmen shot at Rajdeo Ranjan on 13 May night at Siwan railway station locality.
Engaged with the national Hindi newspaper Hindustan in a senior position, Ranjan (45) died in the hospital. A senior journalist with brave image, Ranjan earned enmity with local political goons for his reporting against those elements.
Both the incidents created instant wave of protests in Ranchi as well as in Patna and then it spread to other parts of the country. Various local, national and international media (rights) bodies including the members of prestigious press clubs based in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc demonstrated their angers against the vicious attacks on scribes and demanded distinctive punishment to each & every single perpetrator of the crimes.
Shashi Shekhar, the chief editor of Hindustan narrated in his column that ‘journalism today is amongst the most dangerous professions in the world', but even though people get attracted to it, as the society needs truth and journalism is the most powerful medium to bring out that truth.
"We have made sacrifices and we will continue to do so, till it is necessary…The first target of this struggle will be to bring the killers of Rajdeo Ranjan to book. Here I would like to thank friends in the media for their united stand on the issue…. Believe me, we are nothing without your patronage. And we once again reaffirm our resolve to continue to be your voice," added the column.
Even the information & broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley came out with a statement condemning the killings and twitted, "I strongly condemn murder of journalists Rajdeo Ranjan in Siwan and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Chatra district. Independent investigation may be instituted and guilty be punished."
Both New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Paris based Reporters Without/Sans Borders (RSF) strongly condemned the killings and called for an authentic investigation into the incidents. They also expressed concerns that India is slipping down in the World Press Freedom Index for 2016 turning the largest democracy as one of the worst places for working journalists.
Facing the heat of protests, the Jharkhand police arrested two persons suspecting their involvement in the killing of Yadav. According to the police the arrests were made on the basis of CCTV records, mobile call details and other relevant evidences.
But adding worries to the Bihar government, Ranjan's father Radha Chaudhary and wife Asha Devi demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to unearth the killers and they publicly declared that they had little faith in the local police. Many Bihar based journalists also asked for a CBI probe into Ranjan's murder, which compelled the State chief minister Nitish Kumar to recommend for a CBI investigation to look into the affair.
It may be mentioned that the robust media fraternity of the populous country lost five journalists namely Jagendra Singh (UP), Sandeep Kothari (Madhya Pradesh), Raghavendra Dube (Maharashtra), Hemant Yadav (UP) and Mithilesh Pandey (Bihar) to assailants last year. Shockingly, no one has been convicted in all cases.
Lately the Press Council of India chairman justice (retired) Chandramouli Kumar Prasad came forward to strongly condemn the killing of scribes and urged the Centre to enact a special law for protection of journalists and speedy trial of cases of attacks & assaults on the media persons.
"Nearly 96 per cent of the cases of killing of journalists have not been taken to logical conclusion and are either languishing in the courts or in some cases, investigation reached dead-end in the last two decades, as reported by a Committee of the PCI," said the press council chairman.
Earlier the northeast India based scribes also joined in the protest against the killing of journos in central Indian provinces. The representatives of various journalist organizations assembled in front of Guwahati Press Club on 16 May and demonstrated their angers.
Covering their mouths with black clothes, the demonstrators also demanded stringent actions against the culprits.
The Guwahati demonstrators also supported the move for special protection laws for the benefit of working journalists across the country and called upon the Union government in New Delhi to formulate a national action plan to safeguard the media persons, who pursue critical journalism for the interest of society, nation and the human race.
The first incident of journalist murder this year took place in Uttar Pradesh, where a young scribe named Tarun Mishra was shot dead on 13 February 2016 at Gosaiganj locality in Sultanpur district. Mishra (32) used to work for a Hindi daily named Jan Sandesh Times and he was targeted for highlighting the illegal soil mining activities in his district. Three motorcycle riding miscreants shot at him near to his residential locality in Ambedkar Nagar and he succumbed to his severe injuries in the hospital.
The second casualty was reported from Jharkhand, where a television news channel reporter was killed by the local goons. Two unidentified people targeted Indradev Yadav (also known as Akhilesh Pratap Singh) at Dewaria locality of Chatra district on the night of 12 May. Yadav (35), who used to work for Taaza News, faced the bullets in front of the village Panchayat office and died on his way to the hospital.
Within 24 hours, the third case of journalist murder came to light from its neighboring State of Bihar. Unidentified gunmen shot at Rajdeo Ranjan on 13 May night at Siwan railway station locality.
Engaged with the national Hindi newspaper Hindustan in a senior position, Ranjan (45) died in the hospital. A senior journalist with brave image, Ranjan earned enmity with local political goons for his reporting against those elements.
Both the incidents created instant wave of protests in Ranchi as well as in Patna and then it spread to other parts of the country. Various local, national and international media (rights) bodies including the members of prestigious press clubs based in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc demonstrated their angers against the vicious attacks on scribes and demanded distinctive punishment to each & every single perpetrator of the crimes.
Shashi Shekhar, the chief editor of Hindustan narrated in his column that ‘journalism today is amongst the most dangerous professions in the world', but even though people get attracted to it, as the society needs truth and journalism is the most powerful medium to bring out that truth.
"We have made sacrifices and we will continue to do so, till it is necessary…The first target of this struggle will be to bring the killers of Rajdeo Ranjan to book. Here I would like to thank friends in the media for their united stand on the issue…. Believe me, we are nothing without your patronage. And we once again reaffirm our resolve to continue to be your voice," added the column.
Even the information & broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley came out with a statement condemning the killings and twitted, "I strongly condemn murder of journalists Rajdeo Ranjan in Siwan and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Chatra district. Independent investigation may be instituted and guilty be punished."
Both New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Paris based Reporters Without/Sans Borders (RSF) strongly condemned the killings and called for an authentic investigation into the incidents. They also expressed concerns that India is slipping down in the World Press Freedom Index for 2016 turning the largest democracy as one of the worst places for working journalists.
Facing the heat of protests, the Jharkhand police arrested two persons suspecting their involvement in the killing of Yadav. According to the police the arrests were made on the basis of CCTV records, mobile call details and other relevant evidences.
But adding worries to the Bihar government, Ranjan's father Radha Chaudhary and wife Asha Devi demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to unearth the killers and they publicly declared that they had little faith in the local police. Many Bihar based journalists also asked for a CBI probe into Ranjan's murder, which compelled the State chief minister Nitish Kumar to recommend for a CBI investigation to look into the affair.
It may be mentioned that the robust media fraternity of the populous country lost five journalists namely Jagendra Singh (UP), Sandeep Kothari (Madhya Pradesh), Raghavendra Dube (Maharashtra), Hemant Yadav (UP) and Mithilesh Pandey (Bihar) to assailants last year. Shockingly, no one has been convicted in all cases.
Lately the Press Council of India chairman justice (retired) Chandramouli Kumar Prasad came forward to strongly condemn the killing of scribes and urged the Centre to enact a special law for protection of journalists and speedy trial of cases of attacks & assaults on the media persons.
"Nearly 96 per cent of the cases of killing of journalists have not been taken to logical conclusion and are either languishing in the courts or in some cases, investigation reached dead-end in the last two decades, as reported by a Committee of the PCI," said the press council chairman.
Earlier the northeast India based scribes also joined in the protest against the killing of journos in central Indian provinces. The representatives of various journalist organizations assembled in front of Guwahati Press Club on 16 May and demonstrated their angers.
Covering their mouths with black clothes, the demonstrators also demanded stringent actions against the culprits.
The Guwahati demonstrators also supported the move for special protection laws for the benefit of working journalists across the country and called upon the Union government in New Delhi to formulate a national action plan to safeguard the media persons, who pursue critical journalism for the interest of society, nation and the human race.
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