The Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) in an emergency meeting convened today, 16 March 2011,under the Freedom Tree condemns the criminal attack on media persons by a gang of unruly students at the Centurion Institute of Technology, Paralakhemundi on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 while they were covering the student unrest inside the campus.
MUFP expresses its deep concrn over the fact that several Parlakhemundi-based journalists – ETV Reporter Sri Rama Govinda Acharya, OTV Reporter Sri Bidhan Chaudhury,ANI Reporter Santosh Patnaik, Kanak TV Reporter, Srikant Maharana, Naxatra TV reporter, Basudev Das have been injured in the attack.
The MUFP demands that the police and administration take immediate steps to ensure the cameras and other equipment snatched away from these journalists are returned to them within 24 hours failing which they should be compensated as per the market value of the goods stolen by the unruly students or the management of the Centurion Institute of Technology at the earliest.
The MUFP resolves to stand by the affected colleagues and draw the attention of the Editors’ Advisory Panel of the MUFP for further action at their end.