Journalists hold rally against Orissa cops

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“POLICE TUM ek kam karo, Chudi aur sari pehen ke dance karo”- this was
the slogan of more than two hundred journalists from the state of
Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh who gathered at the Naxal-hit
Malkangiri district headquarters and took out a rally on the main road
protesting against the police attack on journalists on July 17. The
incident took place when the journalists were at work covering the
blast site where Naxals had exploded a land mine killing 17 police
personnel.


Journalist Sheikh Makbool, MV Chari and TV9 channel crew Anil Reddy
were attacked by the enraged cops when they were taking pictures of
the site where the blast had taken place. The camera and other
equipments were also damaged by the cops. Later, the injured
mediapersons were treated at a hospital. Following the incident,
journalists’ associations from the three adjacent states organised and
came out with a five-point charter of demands. After shouting slogans
and covering about two kilometres they submitted a memorandum to the
district collector, Nitin Bhanudas Jable. The demands include judicial
enquiry into the matter, unconditional apology by the miscreant cops,
payment of compensation against the damages, stopping use of Press
banner by police officials while visiting Naxal-prone areas and
protection of media rights. The rally was led by K Ramanarayanam,
executive body member of the Andhra Working Journalists Union. The
collector assured to take action and complete enquiry within a week.