Journalists and activists Demand Law for the Protection of HRDs and Journalists on the day Emergency was declared in India in 1975, Thirty-One years Ago
In a unique coming together of practising journalists and human rights defenders (HRDs), a citizens convention being conducted in Chhatisgarh today is meeting to discuss the need for a Law for the Protection of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders. A Draft Law will be discussed and formulated today. The Convention is on June 25 and June 26.
This Draft Law will thereafter be presented to the State Government for their consideration and legislation at the forthcoming Monsoon Session of the Vidhan Sabha in July 2016. A concerted campaign for the enactment of the said Law will be carried out in coordination with various people’s organizations, political parties, civil society organizations and intellectuals.
The initiative is a joint one being organised by the Chhatisgarh unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the Patrakaar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti.
The dates chosen are deliberate to coincide with the declaration of Emergency Rule in India (1975-77) as the present violation of freedom of the press and other forms of dissent not only reminds us of the Emergency days, but also poses threats and challenges to human rights defenders, including the media and intelligentsia to formulate forms of resistance to authoritarianism coupled with fascist tendencies and, in turn, defend democracy and fight for real freedom.
The Theme Address was given by senior Journalist andwriter, Anand Swaroop Verma, chief editor of Samkaleen Teesri Duniya, New Delhi. Apanel discussion on the theme will include ideas and action plans to be presented by Prabhakar Chaubey, senior writer and journalist from Chhattisgarh, Sanjay Parikh, senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India, and the vice-president of PUCL, and Sudha Bhardwaj, closely associated with people’s movements in Chhattisgarh, especially workers and women. This will be chaired by Anand Mishra, a renowned Socialist leader who was a MISA detainee during the Emergency Rule in India (1975-77).
Day One will include a Sharing by Media persons the Stories of Atrocities/Violence to be chaired by Sudhir Tamboli.Writers will share their own experiences of state repression and threats from the vested interests are: Prabhat Singh, Anil Mishra, Pushpa Rokde, Tameshwar Sinha, Aarti Vaishnav, and Dilip Menon.
Chhattisgarh has seen a fair amount of violence against journalists, especially those working in the conflict zones of South Bastar. Several journalists have been facing malicious prosecution and defamation cases because they reported on misdeeds of corporate or powerful bureaucrats.
Certain newspapers who reported against the powerful vested interested have also faced state sponsored physical violence.
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