The Hindu : National : Support for Manipur journalists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 20, 2006

National

National

Support for Manipur journalists

Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI: Veteran journalist and columnist Kuldip Nayar on Wednesday expressed solidarity with journalists of Manipur in their protest against kidnap of six editors and forcible ban on a newspaper.

He was interacting with members of the Guwahati Press Club who protested against the incident of a militant group holding six editors captive and forcing the newspapers to publish a statement at gunpoint and clamping a ban on an English daily.

Mr. Nayar, who was the `Guest of the month' of the club, said the Editors Guild of India would hold an emergency meeting to discuss the attack on journalists.

No newspaper was published in Manipur on Wednesday. Six editors, five from print and one from a local news channel, were held captive by a faction of the militant Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) on Sunday night. Journalists also protested the against the "three-month ban" imposed by the militant outfit on Imphal Free Press. The editors were released after a statement of the militant outfit was published in full in Monday's editions. Describing the incident as "shocking," Mr. Nayar said he would raise the matter in Parliament. He also demanded the Okram Ibobi led-Government in Manipur act immediately and ensure the safety of the journalists.

Mr. Nayar also stressed on the need for constituting a Media Commission to look into the problems being and faced by journalists.

Speaking at the first anniversary celebration of the Dainik Purvoday, a Hindi daily published from Guwahati, on Tuesday, Mr. Nayar asserted that free information was critical to the survival of democracy.

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