Amaravati, Mar 4: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has strongly condemned the manhandling of media persons and vandalizing of press vehicles by unruly protestors and security personnel during the recent unrest that broke out in the twin capital cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun over PRC issue.
In its two-day, National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, held at KL University, Amaravathi, Andhra Pradesh, IJU executive members, on Sunday, sought from the state authority, to ensure safety and security of media persons, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.     
Earlier, a two-point resolution, on media atrocities, was placed by the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ), affiliated to IJU, in the 2nd day, of the NEC meeting, which began at Amaravati, on March 2 last.
Several media persons have been subjected to manhandling, heckling, and damage of media equipment and vehicles either by the unruly protesters or the security personnel while covering the recent violence that erupted in protest against proposal of grant of PRC to Non-APSTs by the state government.
The unruly mob burnt down the scooter of Northeast Live cameraman Rahul Gamang, damaged the vehicle of Yuvraj Mehta of Assam Talk and they also forcefully took away the scooty of Naba Saikia, circulation staff of The Arunachal Times.
Fortunately, none of the scribes sustained grievous injuries, except for the Arunachal Today CEO Sange Droma, who got injured when unruly protesters threw bottle at her, in midst of the chaos, said APUWJ President Amar Sangno, while proposing the resolution, in the NEC meeting.
However, many media persons were subjected to police harassment as well. It was reported that cameras and mobile phones of several media persons were snatched away and damaged by security personnel. They also purportedly deleted all the footages of violence that was captured during the incident by the journalists.
Arunachal Front reporter Manoj Singh, Arunachal Pioneer reporter Shonaam Tabri Dada, Northeast Live correspondent Indu Chukhu, Itanagar News reporter Raj Pradhan, The Arunachal Times copy editor Nellie N Manpoong, Arunachal Mirror cameraman Rigi Riba along with its reporter Agam Rakhe, and Roshni Perying, Koj Hassang and Om Bahadur of Capital News faced harassment from unruly mob and security personnel in the line of duty.

The IJU and the APUWJ also condoled the death of the three youths, who lost their lives, in the police firing, during the anti-PRC agitation. In its condolence message, the IJU and the APUWJ have expressed their solidarity to the bereaved family.

The state units of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh attended the NEC meeting. The two-day meeting was hosted by Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ).      
Each state unit presented their report cards. In its report, APUWJ president Amar Sangno highlighted the union’s activities held in past few months in the state of Arunachal.  He informed that Arunachal Press Club and APUWJ have acquired 1300 square meters land meant for the construction of club building from the department of Arunachal Pradesh Industrial Financial Development Corporation (APIFDC) through the nodal agency Information and Public Relation department in the heart of Itanagar, with an estimated amount of Rs 1.74 crore.
He further said that the government of Arunachal Pradesh has allocated Rs 5 crore for the press club building construction. However, finding suitable land for the press club building was onerous task. Now, remaining amount of Rs 3.25 crores will be used in APC building construction and land development that includes parking lot and protection wall, Sangno added.
He also informed about the guidelines framed by APC and APUWJ for covering election related news in the state, which was appreciated by the IJU general secretary Sabina Inderjit, who chaired the two-day NEC meeting.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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