The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) strongly condemned the registration of cases against six journalists in Himachal Pradesh for exposing the inefficiency of the state administration during the lockdown to fight the deadly coronavirus in the state. It demanded the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to immediately intervene and order the scrapping of cases against the journalists.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the President K Sreenivas Reddy, Secretary General Balwinder Singh Jammu said that it was unfair and unacceptable to suppress voice of media on the pretext of lockdown and curfew by registering cases against them under the very Act which meant to fight the pandemic. They pointed out that the journalists were trying to bring out the truth about the plight of the migrants and other sections of the people during the present crisis. “It is strange that the state government is punishing journalists for aiding the fight against deadly virus by pointing out the inefficiencies in relief measures to considerable risks to themselves under the Disaster Management Act,” they said.
The IJU leaders lamented that the Himachal Pradesh government instead of taking steps to mitigate sufferings of the people, has chosen to target the messenger by registering cases against the journalists who were valiantly discharging their duty to inform the people about the true situation ignoring danger to themselves and their families. The IJU warned that it resort to protest action if the state government would not come forward to drop the cases against the journalists.
They urged the Press Council of India (PCI) Chairman Justice C K Prasad to take suo motu cognisance of the cases filed against six journalists in Himachal Pradesh for their reportage, not palatable to the state administration and initiate suitable action immediately. They demanded that the PCI should take suo motu action against the state governments in Delhi, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh for registering cases against journalists for discharging their duty.