Brussels, 21st October, 2020: Two leading media freedom organisations have issued a joint call on the Indian authorities to take urgent action to prevent the increasing use of sedition laws and other legal sanctions to threaten and silence independent journalists.

The Indian Journalists Union condemns the arbitrary sealing of The Kashmir Times office in Srinagar without any notice. The Union views the J&K authorities’ action as clearly vindictive and demands that till due process of law is applied the office be desealed in the interest of fairplay and justice. The daily’s Executive

 

New Delhi, 7 October 2020: The Indian Journalists Union strongly condemns Uttar Pradesh government’s repeated gagging of the media and assault and arrest of journalists by its police while covering the Hathras incident. Two freelance journalists, one from UP, Asad Rizvi was brutally beaten by the police in Lucknow and another Delhi-based Siddique Kappan was detained at Mathura. These incidents are a clear attack on the freedom of the press and the IJU demands that the government initiate an inquiry and take action against the policemen.

 

 

New Delhi, 29 September 2020: The Indian Journalists Union joins its State affiliate, the Chhattisgarh Shramjivi Patrakar Kalyan Sangh (CSPKS), in condemning the brutal assault on senior journalist and Bhoomkal monthly magazine Editor Kamal Shukla and manhandling of other journalists in Kanker district, Bastar region, on 26 September by supporters of the ruling Congress and a local corporator. The union demanded that the culprits be brought to book and a case of attempted murder be registered against them.

  

 

New Delhi, 20 September 2020: The Indian Journalists Union notes with concern the arrest of veteran journalist, Rajeev Sharma, for alleged breach of the Officials Secrets Act. The OSA from 1923 is anti-deluvian and needs to be redrafted in light of the fast changing needs of the modern nation State. More so, keeping in mind what it connotes for an open democratic society such as ours.

New Delhi, 10 September 2020: The Indian Journalists Union expresses serious concern at the termination of services of three senior most journalists by The Shillong Times, a leading English daily published from Shillong, Meghalaya.

The three senior most journalists were sacked summarily without serving any show cause and enquiry which is mandated by the labour laws.  The reason of sacking of the Journalists as mentioned in the termination letter is 'COVID-19 related reasons'

New Delhi, 29 August 2020: The Indian Journalists Union welcomes the Delhi High Court stay on Sudarshan News TV channel from broadcasting a show on Friday, which its Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke claimed was an expose on the ‘infiltration of Muslims’ in the civil services and had in a promo used the expression “Jamia Ke Jihadi.” 

Hate speech, said the Union has no place in any civilised society and definitely not in the fourth estate.   

New Delhi, 24 August 2020: The Indian Journalists Union expresses concern over the random shutdown of The Shillong Times, by the District authorities after declaring its office building as containment area and reported violations of COVID-19 protocol. 

Given that media is an ‘essential service’, the newspaper management should have been allowed to make requisite arrangements to come out with the edition by taking all precautions, the IJU said and demands the authorities in Shillong review their order.  

New Delhi, 19 August 2020: The Indian Journalists Union condemns the UP police action of again arresting journalist Prashant Kanojia following a complaint against his alleged tweet filed by a BJP leader in Lucknow. Demanding his immediate release, the IJU questioned the FIR lodged against Kanojia and whether there was rule of law in Yogi Adityanath’s State.

New Delhi, 13 August 2020: The Indian Journalists Union strongly condemns the mob attack on three journalists of The Caravan on 11 August in Northeast Delhi while they were reporting on a story concerning a Delhi violence complaint. Worse, the attack had communal overtones and the police at the Bhajanpura station refused to register FIRs against the complaints filed by the journalists. The IJU demands a thorough investigation and the culprits as identified be brought to book.

New Delhi, 6 August, 2020: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemns the FIR registered by Sahranpur Police on the basis of a complaint from CMO, Uttar Pradesh against Sankalp Neb, a local journalist for sharing a screenshot of a Twitter posting in a WhatsApp group. The Twitter posting alleged that the reports of COVID-19 negative patients were being turned into positive under a conspiracy with the help of the private hospitals.