Journalists in Bengaluru met in solidarity at the Press Club over the violence meted out to several reporters covering the communal violence in Delhi, which has resulted in the death of at least 34 persons.
Mediapersons wore black bands to register their protest on Thursday against the alleged police inaction. They met Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and handed over a copy of their resolution seeking action against those who attacked media personnel. They also plan to send a copy of their resolution to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The resolution states, “In the last few days, we have seen unprecedented levels of violent attacks on many media professionals in Delhi. These media personnel were only discharging their duty as expected of them by their organisation Attacking them while on the job is an act of cowardice.”
Accusing the Delhi police of failing to provide security and safety for the media, the resolution states, “What many fail to see is that as journalists, we try to uncover the truth while putting our lives and families at risk. We are proud patriots and do our job to help society, just as many others do. If we are threatened, heckled, beaten or killed, they are strangling the country's voice and not just ours.”
“We appeal to you to kindly look into the matter to ensure that perpetrators of these heinous crimes on media personnel are brought to book and punished for causing grievous injuries to them,” it says.
On Tuesday, in a brazen attack against press freedom, Akash, a video journalist working for JK24 news channel who was reporting from Maujpur in north-east Delhi was shot. He was admitted to a hospital in serious condition where he is recovering from bullet injuries.
Several journalists reporting on the riots were attacked including NDTV reporters Arvind Gunasekhar and Saurabh Shukla. Another NDTV reporter Mariyam Alavi was also hit by a mob. Many journalists have highlighted the challenges of reporting the violence, with the mob threatening those on the ground, snatching mobile phones of reporters and deleting videos and images.
The full text of the resolution:
We, the members and representatives of various media organizations in Bengaluru are quite pained with the way media personnel today are being attacked. We have become soft targets while we risk our lives just doing our job.
We write to you with the request to kindly ensure the safety concerns of our media colleagues.
In the last few days, we have seen unprecedented levels of violent attacks on many media professionals in Delhi. These media personnel were only discharging their duty as expected of them by their organisation Attacking them while on the job is an act of cowardice. Members of the media carry no opinion when on ground and report on the basis of what they see and capture it on cameras.
Sir as you are aware that these media personnel were subject to brutal attacks, including firing by bullet in one case apart from being heckled, chased and beaten leading to grievous injuries, mentally and physically. All this while the Delhi Police officials failed to provide any security and safety while discharging their duties.
It's not just Delhi, the media faces such situations across the country and Bengaluru's no exception.
What many fail to see is that as journalists, we try to uncover the truth while putting our lives and families at risk. We are proud patriots and do our job to help society, just as many others do. If we are threatened, heckled, beaten or killed, they are strangling the country's voice and not just ours.
We appeal to you to kindly look into the matter to ensure that perpetrators of these heinous crimes on media personnel are brought to book and punished for causing grievous injuries to them
We would also appreciate it if jurisdiction police officers are directed to assure safety and security of the media personnel on the field.