AMN / NEW DELHI
Despite high temperature in the city, more than 300 journalists gathered at press club today to protest the what they called arbitrary and illegal arrests of Prashant Kanojia, Ishita Singh and Anuj Shukla.
A joint statement issued by journalistic bodies noted that the punitive action taken by the Yogi Aditya Nath government was a clear instance of “administrative overreach”.
Among the demands made by the journalists who gathered was the striking down of the defamation law, given the repeated way it has been abused — especially against journalists.
What was striking was that a lot of younger journalists took part in the protest this time. They realise that if they don’t defend their constitutional right to freedom today, they will have to reckon with increasingly repressive state crackdowns against media persons in the future.