A 32-year-old journalist named Chandan Tiwari of a Hindi daily was beaten to death by unidentified people in Jharkhand, while cameraperson of Doordarshan was killed in Naxals attack in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
According to report, the body of Tiwari was found from a jungle in the morning hours and he was declared brought dead in a hospital. Though, police yet to identify the killers, it is assured that a special investigation team will probe into the killing of journalist.
On the other hand, DD cameraperson Achyutanand Sahu along with two security persons were killed by Maoists when a three-member team of Doordarshan from New Delhi were covering development works and polling related news in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.
While condemning the attack, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore announced financial assistance of Rs 15 lakh to the next of kin of the DD News cameraperson.
According to the report of the Committee to Protect Journalists, ‘for the past two years, India has ranked among the countries with the highest number of journalist deaths. In 2016, the International Federation of Journalists listed India as the eighth most dangerous country for journalists.’
It is time for the Centre and state governments to take appropriate steps for protection of media industry and journalists.