Journalists slam UP govt for police atrocity

Lucknow: A day after IBN7 journalists Shalabh Mani Tripathi and Manoj Ranjan Tripathi, who had been closely tracking the YS Sachan story, were roughed up by Additional Superintendent of Police BP Ashok and Circle officer Anup Kumar, an FIR was registered against them and the police officers were suspended.

Shalabh Mani Tripathi had been taken to the Hazratganj Police Station, and was released after hundreds of media persons from UP arrived there. Angry journalists had then marched to the Chief Minister's residence at 1 in the morning.

"Always thought that in UP what is at stake is honesty of journalism but never thought that administration can go so far. So, I was worried (about my colleagues) at that point of time... The bigger thing at stake is the dignity of democracy. If Press is not able to function freely and without fear, there is something wrong. If anyone speaks against the administration he is asked to keep his mouth shut," said IBN-7 Managing Editor Ashutosh.

The late night drama in Lucknow led to shocked condemnation across the media fraternity. While angry at the highhandedness of the UP Police, they also said, the freedom of the press cannot be clamped down like this.

"Our journalists don't do easy job - it's tough. In light of that any infringement of freedom of expression deserves to be condemned," said Star News Managing Editor and BEA President Shazi Zaman.

The Broadcast editors Association (BEA) has also asked the government to ensure that journalists are safe, and have also set up a fact finding committee to look into what happened on Sunday night.

"When we are reporting these things, some governments may not take it in democratic spirit. So, if that is what happening, we are very serious about it and we caution the governments that they should desist from these kind of activities," said BEA General Secretary NK Singh.

The UP government may have been quick to suspend the two policemen who picked up Shalabh Mani on Sunday night, but Sunday night's incident raises serious questions about just how safe are journalists, when they are simply just doing their job.

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