Scribes stress on action against rowdy medicos and IIC of Mangalabag P.S.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by orissamattersbbsr

Cuttack based scribes belonging to both the print and electronic media, in a signed memorandum to Orissa’s Director General of Police today stressed on action against medicos who kidnapped two reporters of Naxatra News from the medicine indoor of SCB Medical College on June 15 and tortured them in wrongful confinement for more than two hours. They also demanded stern action against the inspector-in-charge of Police of Mangalabag PS for discernible siding with the rowdy medicos.

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Members of the presidium of Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) Prasanta Patnaik and Subhas Chandra Pattanayak and coordinator of Save the Samaja Forum Pabitra Maharatha accompanied the aggrieved scribes in a major rally to Police headquarters. In absence of the DGP, the memorandum was received by Additional DGP Mr. Sanjib Marik.

tortured journalist briefs the ADGP

The tortured scribes, Chittaranjan Samantray and Debasis Mohanty gave a detail description of how they were shanghaied into wrongful confinement in a hostel of the medical college by a gang of around a hundred medical students and interns and physically tortured. They were forced to kneel down for hours and then forced to proceed to the same medicine indoor for begging apology before the indoor patients before whom on June 14 they had raised objections to what the house surgeons had said about the father of Samantray.

Samantray’s father was admitted into the medicine ward for treatment. The house surgeons pronounced that the senior Samantray had developed damage in both his kidneys and insisted that he should be shifted to a private hospital. Samantray was shocked, because no pathological investigation had indicated about any damage to the kidneys and he protested. This irked the house surgeons and they started rebuking him in filthy language. An embarrassed and shocked Samantray tried to capture the highly atrocious conduct of the medicos; but obstructed, he went to the unit head and professor of medicine, Dr. Siddharth Das and placed before him his grievances. Dr. Das rushed to the spot and investigated into the matter and as all co-patients of the indoor ward corroborated the allegations raised by Samantray, asked the errant medicos not to work in the same ward. This further irritated the medicos.

When next day, June 15, he had come to attend his father, his co-reporter Debasis had also come with him to meet the professor in his indoor chamber in matter of his ailing mother. Seeing them in the indoor corridor, the miscreant medicos jumped on them and whisked them away into the hostel, where they were kept in wrongful confinement and tortured.

The gory part of the incident is that the IIC of Mangalabag Mr. Shariffudin having come to the spot on SOS message from the affected scribe remained a silent spectator of the torture and willfully neglected to register the FIR filed by them and was later seen entertaining the miscreant medicos in his chamber and registering a parallel FIR filed by them in order to create a confusion in course of criminal justice dispensation.

memorandum

About 50 scribes, while collectively presenting their Memorandum, informed the ADGP that the same IIC is terrorizing them and urged upon him to investigate into his conduct and discipline him. Besides the two victims of medico-police atrocity, the memorialists included, amongst others, Pradip Sahu,Navdeep Das,Cittaranjan Mishra, Satchidanand Behera, Gopal Mohapatra, Matrudatta Mohanty,Prasanta Mohanty, Jyotiprakash Rao, Bikash Sharma, Abhi Mohanty, Amardev Nayak, Rajkishore Panda, Pratap Chandra Sahoo, Devi Prasanna Khuntia, Rajkishore Mohanty, Ch. Jagannath Patra, Satyajit Mishra, Saroj Kumar Mallik,Ajaya Kumar Das, Pabitra Maharatha, Prasanta Patnaik and Subhas Chandra Pattanayak.

The ADGP has assured to take suitable action in the matter and expeditiously.

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MUFP DEMANDS UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF AMITABH PATRA AND ARREST OF COPS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BRUTAL ATTACK AGAINST THE JOURNALIST

Posted on May 2, 2013 by orissamattersbbsr

under the freedom tree

The Media Unity for Freedom of Press ( MUFP) today staged a protest demonstration under the Freedom Tree near Jaidev Bhawan against the brutal police attack on a television journalist Amitabh Patra while he was covering the local agitation at Dunguripali in Lower Suktel project area in Bolangir on the 29th of May.

Sri Patra who is now receiving treatment at the Burla medical college hospital is still in police custody because he has been arrested on false charges that he was inciting the protesters ! The visuals captured by local media persons shows clearly how he was targeted by a group of policemen who beat him black and blue with lathis and kept kicking him even when he had fallen on the ground.

The MUFP has demanded immediate and unconditional release of Amitabh Patra as well as the identification and arrest of the police officials who were involved in the attack that left him with serious head injury. The media body has also demanded payment of compensation for or replacement of Sri Patra’s damaged video camera.

MUFP has strong reasons to believe that Sri Patra was targeted because he was recording the barbaric manner in which the police were beating up the peaceful protesters including young women with his camera. His camera was smashed before he was roughed up by a group of men in khaki who were reportedly drunk.

MUFP has threatened to resort to state-wide agitation if Amitabh Patra is not released unconditionally and no action taken against the policemen responsible for the brutal attack on him.

Over 30 scribes and photographers led by senior journalists Prasanta Patnaik and Rabi Das participated in today’s protest.

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MUFP Warns Ruling Politicians of Consequences of Attack on Media

Posted on February 3, 2012 by orissamattersbbsr

Journalists of Print, Web, Tv and Camera streams congregated under the now famous ‘Freedom Tree’ in front of the State Information Center (Jaydev Bhawan) Bhubaneswar at noon on Thursday  to condemn the rising attack on Press by ruling party leaders at different part of Orissa, specifically, attack on a media person Ashok Mohapatra , Correspondent of Khabara daily at Nischinta Koili ,  by mass education minister Pratap Jena, threat of dire consequences hurled at media men by MLA of Dasapalla, criminal
intimidation resorted to by ex-minister Pramila Mallik against Debendra Samal and chasing out journalist by the concerned collector from the venue of talk of labor laws implementation authority with Jindal steel management in the context of mass unrest generated by anti-people conduct of the industrial giant

Even as Sri Samal narrated the ordeal he has been subjected to by Ms. Mallick, MUFP congregation warned the ruling party politicians that if they remain such filthy to Press, the media would, henceforth, be constrained to think it proper to treat them as civilized persons deal with the filth. It would not be good for democracy and hence, the ruling politicians, whose primary responsibility should have been addressed to democracy, must desist from attacking the Press, the MUFP said.

It called upon the Chief Minister to look at these fresh attacks on Press and discipline his followers – the MLAs and the Minister as named above.

The MUFP demonstration was attended, among others, by Prasanta Patnaik, Rabi Das, Subhas Chandra Pattanayak, Sampad Mahapatra, D.N. Singh, Rabipriya Dash, Pramod Samantara, Lambodar Prasad Dash, Ramesh Mohanty, Lingaraj Panda and Sanjay Subudhi.

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MUFP Condemns Attack on Media Persons in Chhendipada and Demands Immediate Arrest of Attackers and Compensation to the Affected Scribes

Posted on December 13, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) condemns the brutal attack on media persons who were deliberately targeted by a mob during the public hearing for the Mahaguj colliery at Chhendipada in Anugul district on Thursday. According to eye-witness accounts and newspaper reports, media persons who were covering the violence that erupted during the public hearing were beaten up mercilessly with iron rods and cameras of video journalists were either smashed or snatched away by a section of the angry villagers who were responsible for the violent incidents. Sangram Keshari Nath, reporter for MBC TV and web news portal Odishadiary.com, was specifically singled out and he has sustained serious injuries. The 3-CCD video camera he was using to record the event was also snatched away from him. The mob which set the public hearing camp on fire also did not spare the local MLA who was heckled and beaten up.

Media persons in Anugul have reacted sharply to the deliberate attack on fellow journalists and have demanded strong action against the accused people. They have also come down heavily on the district administration which had failed to deploy sufficient police force, although it was aware of the explosive situation on the ground.

The dangerous trend of attacks on journalists on duty by the police, administrative officers, politicians and anti-social elements is a matter of grave concern to all freedom-loving people. Such attacks have certainly posed a serious threat to the freedom of media persons to report the truth as well as their lives and properties .

MUFP expresses its solidarity with the fellow media persons who were attacked, demands the immediate identification and arrest of the accused people and adequate compensation for the loss and damage of their equipment.

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Junagarh Follow-up: Police Official Punished for Attack on Press

Posted on August 18, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

The police officer responsible for atrocious attack on Press persons at Junagarh of Kalahandi district has been punished with transfer.

The Kalahandi Journalists through their Association have in a message thanked Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) for expressing solidarity with their fight for justice.

They have called off their protest agitation on August 16 after the officer-in-charge of Junagad PS, who had attacked and instigated other police men to attack the media persons covering the local farmers’ agitation was transferred and the authorities assured the journalists that no false cases will be slapped against them.

MUFP has expressed satisfaction over the victory of the Journalists of Junagarh and Kalahandi in their principled and united battle against official attempt to gag the Press and has laid stress on similar action everywhere in the state as and when media persons are subjected to any sort of atrocity.

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MEDIA IN JUNAGARH BRUTALLY ATTACKED: MUFP DEMANDS HIGH LEVEL PROBE AND  STRINGENT ACTION

Posted on August 8, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

A government run by persons with no concern for the common man but with devotion for foreigners like POSCO is definitely not in consonance with what the month of August means for Indians. No wonder, the government of Orissa brutalized the unarmed farmers agitating against officially created threat to their profession and living environment at Junagarh on the very first day of August 2011.

It also tried to strangulate freedom of Press on this first day of the month of Indian freedom as lathi wielding police smashed a local journalist covering the brutal attack on the farmers whom the government has left at the mercy of the money lenders, millers, hoarders, black-marketeers, land grabbers and exploiters.

The media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP), in a statement, has strongly condemned the attack and demanded stringent action against the police person and officials under whose instructions the attack was perpetrated.

Below is the statement:

The Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP )is in possession of video evidence of the unprovoked attack by a lathi wielding cop on fellow media person Khageswar Dhangdamajhi, reporter of Nav Bharat and Arjii, a local weekly who was present during the police lathi-charge on agitating farmers in Junagarh on the 1st of August. The MUFP not only condemns the police attack on a media person carrying out his professional duty it also strongly supports the vociferous local demand for stringent action against the official for resorting to goondaism and deliberately targeting a media person on duty. The MUFP expects the state government to order a top-level probe into the incident and suspend the official immediately on the basis of the visual evidence submitted by fellow journalists.

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MUFP Asks Authorities to Protect Suryaprabha Publisher from Police Conspiracy

Posted on April 25, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

Media Unity for Freedom of Press ( MUFP ) has in a statement expressed serious concern over reports that the Bhubaneswar Police is trying
to slap fabricated charges against Sri Bikash Swain, publisher of Oriya
daily Suryaprabha to despatch him to jail for the second time and make
sure he does not get bail. All this because, despite vindictive police
action against Sri Swain last year, Suryaprabha has refused to fall in
line and has continued to publish critical reports on the acts of
omissions and commissions of both the state government and the
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionerate !

Based on inputs from ‘credible sources’ the Executive Editor of
Suryaprabha Sri Navin Das  in a letter to the MUFP has informed of the police conspiracy against Sri Swain, the newspaper’s founder and publisher.

“The MUFP would not like to jump into conclusions; but we would be failing
in our duty if we do not bring this to your kind attention to prevent
any attempt by the police to intimidate or terrorize the media just
because it chooses to project critical views on the functioning of the
government and its agencies”, the body of collective journalistic conscience has told the authorities.

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MUFP CONDEMNS CRIMINAL ATTACK ON MEDIA PERSONS IN PARALAKHEMUNDI

Posted on March 15, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

 

The MUFP, in the strongest possible terms, condemns the criminal attack on a group of media persons by an unruly gang of students of Centurion Institute of Technology, Paralakhemundion Tuesday, 15 March 2011 and demands immediate identification and arrest of all those found guilty. The unfortunate incident took place when local media persons were covering the student unrest inside the campus. Following the brutal attack ETV Reporter Sri Rama Govinda Acharya, OTV Reporter Sri Bidhan Chaudhury and ANI Reporter Santosh Patnaik, Kanak Tv Reporter, Srikant Maharana, Naxatra TV reporter, Basudev Das, Kamyab TV reporter Rupesh Sahoo and others have been injured and their cameras have been snatched away.

Students targeting media persons is a rather unfortunate development and we are reminded of a similar incident at the Ravenshaw college campus recently. The Odisha media has been very supportive of genuine student demands and has raised a number campus and education related issues across the state. MUFP, therefore, believes such criminal behaviour by a small group of students in Parlakhemundi will be condemned by the student community at large. The MUFP demands immediate arrest of all involved in the criminal attack on the media persons .The administration should immediately act and ensure that all the damaged camera and equipments be replaced while ensuring that the authorities would take preventive steps so that the media persons can discharge their duties freely.

Filed under: administration, law and order, media, Media Unity, news, orissa, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

MEDIA UNITY FOR FREEDOM OF PRESS SENDS MEMO OF PROTEST AGAINST ATTACK ON MEDIA TO GOVERNOR OF ODISHA

Posted on February 7, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

Shocked over the Chief Minister’s discernible negligence to protection of freedom of Press, the Media Unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) decided on 7th of February 2011 not to meet any functionary but to apprise the State Governor of events of assault on media persons by way of a memorandum through internet.

Here below is the text of the memorandum:

To
Hon’ble Governor
Raj Bhawan
Bhubaneswar

Sub : Rising trend of criminal attacks on media persons

Hon’ble Sir,

With a sense of deep anguish and anger we at the Media Unity for Freedom of Press  wish to draw your kind attention to the latest instance of a brutal and murderous attack on a fellow journalist, Rajat Ranjan Dash of the Sambad by the Chairman of the NAC, Pipili and his criminal gang on the 4th of February 2011 for daring to expose his corrupt deals through a news item . Sri Dash is being treated for multiple fractures and head injury at the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The very fact that the people in Pipili chose to block the NH-203 for hours in protest against the murderous attack on Sri Dash soon after it happened clearly proves that the report on the chairman of the local NAC filed by Sri Dash in his newspaper did reflect the truth and people’s sentiments.

Sir, we have met with the Chief Minister repeatedly in the last 15 months to draw his attention to the growing number of cases of murderous attacks on media persons by vested interest groups and people with political clout. But unfortunately all his promises of ‘stringent action’ against the guilty have proved to be hollow.

Sir, the state government has done little so far to instill a sense of security among media persons. In fact its gross indifference to the cause and protection of media freedom has encouraged corrupt and criminal elements to attack media persons at will. The police have often been found to be on the side of the attackers and in fact there are several instances when they have themselves targeted media
persons.

Under such circumstances we would like to appeal to you to kindly consider instructing the state government to (a) issue definite directions to all district collectors and police heads across the state to ensure highest protection to media persons  and (b ) to submit a report to you stating the action taken on the petitions submitted by the MUFP to the chief minister since December 2009 .

Sir, we urge upon you to kindly intervene in the matter and ensure a sense of security and freedom for the media and media persons operating in the state. We are sure you would agree that a healthy democracy presupposes the presence a free, vibrant  and independent media that any effort by vested interests to scuttle or endanger media freedom would be to the detriment of every section of our democratic polity.

With high hopes that you would do the needful and deepest regards

Yours sincerely

Prasanta Patnaik, Rabi Das, Subhas Chandra Pattanayak, Prafulla Das, Gopal Mohapatra, DN Singh, Sampad Mahapatra, Sudhir Patnaik, Ramesh Mohanty, K.Ravi, Basudev Mohapatra, Kedar Mishra, RL Patnaik, Manoranjan Mishra, Sabyasachi Panigrahi, Sarat Paikray, Lambodar P Dash, Gourprasad Rajguru, Bipin SIngh, Amar Patnaik, Dr SS Ali, Rajkishor Das, Sukant Routray, Kamalakant Pati, Deba Choudhury, Sarat Kumar Rout, Umesh Chandra Ray, Suresh Ch Mohanty, Priyanath Sahu, Jajati Mohanty, Pratap Kumar Barik, Sukant K Pradhan, Suryamani Mishra, Bijay Kumar Nanda, Jeeban Ray, Seshadev Nanda, Durga Charan Nayak, Samanway Nanda, Sanjay Jena, Lipsa Tripathy, Kishore Chandra Mangaraj, Akhand, Baishnav Jena   Bauribandhu Maharana and others

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Attack on Scribe at Pipili: MUFP Shocked over Police Inaction

Posted on February 7, 2011 by orissamattersbbsr

The MUFP held a protest meeting under the Freedom Tree near Soochna Bahawan in Bhubaneswar on Monday , 7 February 2011 to condemn the brutal and murderous attack on Sambad’s Pipil reporter, Sri Rajat Ranjan Dash by the BJD chairman of Pipili Notified Area Council (NAC ) and his criminal gang on teh 4th of February and to demand the immediate arrest of the said ruling party politican and all those responsible for the dastardly assault on Sri Dash.

Sri Dash who had been discharged from the hospital on Monday morning was present at the venue of the protest meeting and shared shocking details of the assault on him. Sri Dash said he had become the target of the NAC Chairman Mr Sheikh after he published reports on the growing public demand for a probe into the alleged large scale corruption in the local urban body.

Sri Dash said he was beaten black and blue after the NAC chairman pointed a gun at his head and threatened to eliminate him if he ever dared write anything against him.

He also revealed that the attackers also looted cash worth Rs 12,500, a gold chain and three mobile sets from him. The NAC chairman then ordered his men to strip him and he was paraded naked for a while until local people came to his rescue and took him to the hospital.

The MUFP has demanded definite answers from the Chief Minister, Home Secretary and the Collector and SP of Puri as to why the police has so far not acted on the basis of the FIR lodged in this regard when by all accounts the accused have committed a very serious criminal offence and should have been behind bars by now.

The MUFP has decided to submit a petition to the Hon’ble Governor of Orissa and take follow-up action to ensure those responsible for the criminal assault of Sri Rajat Ranjan Dash are arrested and jailed.

Filed under: administration, law and order, media, Media Unity, news, orissa, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

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