12 journalists killed in Uttar Pradesh, 138 journalists attacked
Most of the attacks on journalists were done while reporting
The incidents of pain, nose killings of journalists and horrific assaults being done in the country are not stopping. In the attacks on journalists, the names of the people of the mafia as well as the people associated with politics keep getting exposed. In many cases, there is also confirmation of policemen assaulting journalists. Journalists are shot in public or they are put to death by attacking with sharp weapons. In many cases, it is also seen that if any application is given to the police by the journalist expressing the suspicion of being attacked, then it is not taken seriously. A few days later, it is learned that the journalist was killed in public by the miscreants. When the journalist is suspected as soon as he has been murdered, then the paperwork is started. If the journalist’s request had been made in time, his life could have been saved. However, voices continue to be raised against attacks on journalists. No work has been done by the governments on how to ensure the safety of the journalist working for the betterment of the country and society.
A total of 12 journalists have been killed in the state of UP during the five years since 2017. Maximum seven journalists were killed in 2020. Two journalists were killed in 2017 including Nitin Gupta of Hindustan newspaper in Bilhaur, Kanpur and Rajesh Mishra, representative of Dainik Jagran in Ghazipur. In the same five years, 138 cases of attacks on journalists have been reported, with the maximum number of attacks in 2020 and 2021. The number of attacks in 2021 may be more. It has been seen in this, in most of these cases, those cases which are related to police harassment. So far in 2022, cases of physical assault on journalists have been reported from Amethi, Kaushambi, Kunda, Sitapur, Ghaziabad. The list of physical attacks on journalists is very long. Around 50 journalists in the state of UP were physically assaulted over the course of five years, which is also recorded in the report of the Committee Against Attacks on Journalists (CAAJ). The attackers of journalists range from police to politicians and domineering and common people. Most of the attacks on journalists were done while reporting.
Journalism organizations have been protesting on the streets against the attacks on journalists in the country. Human rights organizations have also repeatedly expressed concern about attacks on journalists. The three most horrific cases of 2019 in Uttar Pradesh will never be forgotten. The cases are related to Amit Sharma, journalist of News24 in Shamli district, Khurshid Misbahi of ETV Bharat and Vijay Vineet of Sonbhadra. The cases of journalists Khurshid and Amit Sharma are also included in the CAAJ report. The murderous attack on Vijay Vineet, the District President of the UP Working Journalists Union (UPWJU) in Sonbhadra of the state took place in November 2019. The attacker is a history sheeter. A total of seven journalists were killed in the state in 2020 – Rakesh Singh, Suraj Pandey, Uday Paswan, Ratan Singh, Vikram Joshi, Faraz Aslam and Shubham Mani Tripathi. Journalist Rakesh Singh was killed by miscreants by setting his house on fire in Balrampur. His life was taken for exposing the corruption of Rakesh Singh. Rakesh Singh was associated with Rashtriya Swaroop newspaper, he has been reporting on corruption.
Shubham Mani Tripathi of Unnao has also been writing against the sand mafia. Journalist Shubham Mani Tripathi gets threats because of this. Seeing these threats, he also appealed to the police for security but journalist Shubham Mani was shot. Similarly, journalist Vikram Joshi was also shot in broad daylight in Ghaziabad. In the same year, TV journalist Ratan Singh was also shot in Phephna, Ballia. Journalist Uday Paswan and his wife were brutally murdered by gangsters in Barwadih village of Sonbhadra. In Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, the body of English journalist Suraj Pandey was found under suspicious circumstances on a railway track. Police called it a suicide but the family had accused a female sub-inspector and a male constable, calling it murders. He was arrested following allegations from the family.
Journalist Faraz Aslam was murdered in Kaushambi on 7 October 2020. Faraz was a correspondent with Paigam-e-Dil. In the case of journalist Faraz Aslam’s murder, the police was suspected of being an informer. One case is from Sitapur in 2020. Journalist Shailendra Vikram Singh was covering an illegally operating hospital in Sitapur district. Because of that coverage, the doctor and his associates beat him up badly. Journalist Shailendra Vikram Singh had suffered serious head injuries in this fight. The journalist saved his life by running away from the spot and went to the police station and filed a case against the accused. Apart from the murders in different areas of Uttar Pradesh, cases of legal cases and notices on journalists have been especially serious in 2020 and 2021. There is hardly any state in the country where journalists do not have to face prosecution for exposing various types of mafia news.
