The leading Chhattisgarh journalist Kamal Shukla, who is editor of Bhumkal Samachar magazine and head of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti was beaten on Saturday afternoon in Kanker (North Bastar) district of Chhattisgarh. According to Chattisgarh Sramajeevi Patrakar Kalyan Sangha the incident took place in the afternoon when Shukla went to the local police station after hearing that a journalist, Satish Yadav, had been assaulted by local municipal corporators belonging to the ruling Congress party.
IJU Condemns Assault Against Chhattisgarh Journalist
The Indian Journalists Union joins its State affiliate, the Chhattisgarh Shramjivi Patrakar Kalyan Sangh (CSPKS), in condemning the brutal assault on senior journalist and Bhoomkal monthly magazine Editor Kamal Shukla and manhandling of other journalists in Kanker district, Bastar region, on 26 September by supporters of the ruling Congress and a local municipal corporator. The union demanded that the culprits be brought to book and a case of attempted murder be registered against them.
The CSPKS and local journalists have also demanded that the Congress government ensure such incidents do not occur and that the law for safety of journalists as promised by it be enacted.
In a statement, IJU President and former Member, Press Council of India Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General and IFJ Vice President Sabina Inderjit said the incident reconfirms the rising harassment and intimidation of journalists by powers that be to suppress the truth. The attack must be viewed as an attack on freedom of press and the citizens’ right to information. They demanded the police arrest the culprits and the government fulfil its promise to have a safety law in place without any further delay.
