Staff Reporter
New Delhi, 25 December 2012. Speaking out against the use of force against journalists covering protests against the gang rape of a physiotherapy student, five press organisations on Monday urged Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to take measures to protect mediapersons, as well as women.
The memorandum, signed by presidents and general secretaries of the Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Indian Journalists Union and Delhi Union of Journalists, demanded action and accountability from the police officers who gave orders for the use of force against the mediapersons who were carrying out their functions on Sunday.
Before sending the memorandum to the Union Home Minister, journalists from different media organisations gathered at the Press Club of India here. Holding placards, they marched till Rail Bhavan, where the police had put up barricades.
Describing the assault on the media persons as totally unacceptable and condemnable, the memorandum said: “We view this action as a strategy to control the media and prevent them from covering the protests. This also constitutes curbing freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.”
Delhi has become an extremely unsafe place for women at all times of the day, particularly during evening hours, where safe forms of public transport have become non-existent, the memorandum added.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/media-protests-students-gang-rape/article4236014.ece
