Editors Guild of India writes to Assam CM against growing incidents of violence against journalists

DISPUR: Against the backdrop of several brutal attacks against scribes in Assam, the Editors Guild of India today wrote to the State's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal "with deep concern about the growing incidents of violence against journalists in Assam."

"They have been subjected to mob attacks, intimidation, and threats, which is vitiating the environment necessary for the functioning of an independent and vibrant media," the journalists' body wrote to the Assam Chief Minister.

The Editors Guild of India cited the example of Milan Mahanta (42), who writes for 'Asomiya Pratidin' and 'Dainik Asom', was tied to a pole by 5 people and beaten up, reportedly for reporting on gambling activities in the lead up to the festival of Diwali.

This, the Guild said, "is a testament of the difficult environment in which the journalists work in Assam."

According to the Guild, Mahanta claimed that he was beaten up for his reportage against the Kamrup district "gambling and land mafias."
"This incident comees close on the heels of the death of Parag Bhuyan, a journalist with 'Pratidin Time', who was overrun by a car near his home in Kakopathar. The Pratidin Time Editor has alleged that Bhuyan was murdered as he had been receiving threats for exposing corruption and illegal activitues of the criminal nexus in Kakopothar," the Guild told Sonowal.

Appreciating the Chief Minister's efforts in bringing monetary relief to the kin of the 32 journalists killed in Assam since 1981 with generous compensations, the body claimed that "most of the cases have not been resolved with allegations of shoddy investigations."

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The journalists' body urged the Chief Minister to take "necessary steps for rebuilding confidence in the media, so that they can operate without fear."

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