Editors Guild shares deep concern with Assam CM over attacks on scribes

Guwahati

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Thursday expressed serious concern over the growing incidents of violence against journalists in Assam.

In a letter to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the EGI expressed deep concern over the growing incidents of violence against journalists vitiating the environment necessary for the functioning of an independent and vibrant media.

"While we appreciate your firm condemnation of these incidents, the situation demands your urgent intervention to assure the media that they are safe to report without fearing retribution from the criminal mafia. In the absence of that, a sense of impunity could embolden the attackers who may believe that they are above the law," said the letter signed by EGI President Seema Mustafa, General Secretary Sanjay Kapoor and Treasurer Anant Nath.

The two-page letter said that the manner in which Milan Mahanta (42), who writes for Asomiya Pratidin and Dainik Asom, was recently tied to a pole by five criminals and beaten mercilessly, is a testament of the difficult environment in which the journalists work in Assam.

A video of the assault has gone viral on social media.

Mahanta, who has named the assailants, claimed that he was beaten up for his reportage against the gambling and land mafias in Kamrup district.

The incident came close on the heels of the death of Parag Bhuyam, a journalist with Pratidin Time, who was overrun by a car near his home in Kakopathar. The Pratidin Time editor has alleged that Bhuyam was murdered as he had been receiving threats for exposing corruption and illegal activities of a criminal nexus in the Kakopathar area.

The EGI also appreciated the state government's efforts for providing monetary relief to the kin of the 32 journalists killed in Assam since 1991.

"However, most of the cases have not been resolved with allegations of shoddy investigations. In many cases, the culprits are roaming free, intimidating the families of the slain journalists. We hope you will urge the state police to take necessary steps for rebuilding confidence in the media, so that they can operate without fear," the EGI said in its letter.