Instances of gang attack on mediamen by uniformed personnel is in the rise in Orissa. Media unity for Freedom of Press (MUFP) has reacted to the latest of such instances wherein culprits are CISF Jawans. Following is the MUFP statement:
Media Unity for freedom of Press is deeply disturbed over increasing instances of assault on mediapersons by uniformed men in Orissa. On Saturday , 8 May, when a big pack of CISF Jawans had taken law to their own hands at Angul and were mercilessly beating up the driver of a truck which had accidentally run over a girl student, reportedly the daughter of a jawan at Angul, ETV reporter Jagadananda Pradhan along with fellow journalists representing different media organizations was capturing the event in his camera. Irritated over being captured on camera while breaking law, the CISF jawans not only beat up Jagadananda with brutal wrath but also destroyed his camera and packed it away even as other journalists and cameramen were not spared. All this happened in the presence of the police who were on the spot.
MUFP expresses solidarity with the Jagadananda and all the journalists of Angul and strongly condemns the gang attack by CISF jawans on media persons. It calls upon the authorities to take immediate penal action against the jawans for launching a brutal assault on journalists on duty and to compensate them for their loss and injury.