Bhubaneswar: The Editors Guild of India has expressed shock and outrage over police humiliating journalists in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, and the cops cuffing a journalist to a hospital bed at Nilagiri in Balasore district. The Editor’s Guild has demanded strict action against those who ‘misuse state power’
On Thursday, Nilagiri police chained a journalist’s leg to a hospital bed after an alleged case of assault. The journalist Loknath Delai though has claimed that he was arrested in response to his reporting of corruption by the police and various irregularities in their affairs.
In Sidhi, Kanishk Tewari, a local reporter was covering the protest against the arrest of a theatre artist who had allegedly made some indecent remarks against a BJP MLA and his son. The journalist was arrested, stripped, and humiliated on April 2, in retaliation against protest and associated news coverage of arrest of another member of civil society.
“In the MP incident, shockingly, the police shot pictures of the journalist and activists and released them on social media in order to shame and humiliate them.”
“Though the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, has suspended the cops and ordered an inquiry into this horrendous case, but this increasing tendency of the police and local administration to brazenly attack and intimidate journalists is extremely disturbing and needs to be checked,” the Editor’s Guild stated.
The inhumane manner in which journalists, stringers, and district reporters are often treated by the police, in an effort to suppress any independent reporting is a matter of grave concern, the guild stated.
“The Editors Guild of India urges the Union Home Ministry to take immediate cognisance of police excesses against journalists and civil society members, and issue stern directions to all levels of law enforcement agencies to respect democratic values and freedom of press,” a press statement made by the Editor’s Guild on Friday read.
