NEW DELHI, 9 Sep: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and its affiliate, the Tripura Journalists Union (TJU), have condemned the ransacking of the office of Agartala-based daily Pratibadi Kalam on Wednesday afternoon by miscreants. Three journalists were injured in the incident.
The unions have demanded prompt action against those who indulged in the unprecedented violent attack, stating that attempts to silence the media are unacceptable.
According to reports, the newspaper’s editor and publisher lodged an FIR, alleging that, after a BJP rally, its workers attacked and ransacked his office and burnt cars and two-wheelers parked outside the office. “All papers and documents, computers, and CCTV cameras were destroyed, while a huge contingent of police remained silent spectators and did nothing. The goons were armed with lathis and sharp-edged deadly weapons and one of our journalists, Prasenjit Saha, was hit on the back of his head by a sharp-edged weapon and injured seriously,” the FIR read.
In a statement, TJU president Syed Sajjad Ali vehemently condemned the hooliganism and demanded stern action against the perpetrators. He visited the scene of the incident to take stock of the situation and reiterated that “under no circumstance attack on media in any manner would be tolerated.”
Joining him, IJU president Geetartha Pathak and secretary-general Sabina Inderjit said the vandalizing of the office by BJP workers must be viewed as a blatant act of bullying and an attempt to silence the media.
“The police cannot be a mute spectator to such violence and must act immediately. The culprits must be brought to book and the ruling party must compensate the newspaper for the damages that have been done,” they said.
