Again Journalists stopped covering news beaten brutally by UP police

New Delhi, 7 October 2020:
UP has become a dangerous place for independent journalists. Almost every day there are incidents of journalists bashing and harassments in UP. The latest two cases of such harassments attracted severe criticism from national and international rights and Journalists groups.
Two freelance journalists, one from UP, Asad Rizvi was brutally beaten by the police in Lucknow and another Delhi-based Siddique Kappan was
detained at Mathura. Journalists bodies strongly condemns Uttar Pradesh
government’s repeated gagging of the media and assault and arrest of journalists by its police
while covering the Hathras incident. They said these incidents are a clear attack on the freedom of the press. the Indian Journalists Union (IJU)
demands that the government initiate inquiry and take action against the policemen.
Rizvi was brutally beaten up by the policemen at GPO on Gandhi Jayanti Day when he and his cameraman colleague were filming the posse of policemen stationed there to stop citizens from coming there to protest. A woman police inspector asked him not to shoot pictures as he needed permission and insisted he speak to her superior. The officer, an inspector rank, instead of talking
started kicking him and the policemen around dragged him, started beating him saying he and his colleague were there only to create a nuisance. The cops tried to smash his phone and pushed
them inside the police car, took away the memory card and then suddenly let them off. IJU demanded Principal Information Secretary and both DC and DM take action against the cops involved.
Kappan who writes for Malayalam news websites was stopped at a toll plaza in Mathura along with three others, on Monday afternoon while he was heading to Hathras. The police claimed the
men were linked to the Popular Front of India, whereas the fact is he is a freelanced journalist and was only doing his duty. In a statement, IJU President and former member of Press Council of India, Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General and IFJ Vice President Sabina Inderjit condemned the incidents saying
that the Yogi Adityanath government was brazenly indulging in undeclaredcensorship of the
media and denying the citizens right to information. The harassment, intimidation of journalists
and gagging of truth was unacceptable in any democratic society, said the IJU and demanded that the government desist from such bullying.