In a statement, the PCI says going by the series of attacks on journalists in the recent past, it could be inferred that these people are hell bent on gagging the Press in its entirety. It condemned Delhi Police for remaining mute spectators and did not arrest the culprits who assaulted the journalists.
The PCI demanded an immediate arrest of the hooligans with the communal overtones and a judicial inquiry to unearth the sequence of events leading to the barbaric attack on the media persons.
It also condemned the Uttar Pradesh government and the Ballia district administration for the arbitrary arrest of the Ballia-based journalists who exposed the leak of the 12th examination English paper. “It is just akin to a case of kettle calling the pot black.”
Demanding an immediate release of the journalists and booking the mafiamen involved in the question paper leak, the Press Club of India said: “Of late, it has been observed that UP government is going hammer and tongs to threaten and actually arrest those mediapersons who don’t toe the line of government thinking over the issues of policy measures. And sycophant and more-than-eager UP police and bureaucrats don’t waste time to arrest mediapersons at first-available opportunity to please Powers-that-be.”
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