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‘Increased persecution’ in UP: Editors Guild for action against IAS officer who thrashed journalist

Editors Guild has demanded strict action against the IAS officer and said concrete steps should be taken to improve the environment for independent journalism in UP.

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New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India condemned the assault on a journalist in Uttar Pradesh by an IAS officer, Divyanshu Patel, last week and demanded “strict action” against him.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Guild also said concrete steps should be taken to “improve the environment for independent journalism” in Uttar Pradesh.

Unnao Chief Development Officer (CDO) Divyanshu Patel was caught on camera thrashing the video journalist, Krishna Tiwari, and smashing his mobile phone in Unnao during block panchayat polls on 10 July. A video of the assault had gone viral.

In its statement, the Guild noted how Tiwari was “beaten up by Divyanshu Patel (CDO), as well as reportedly some BJP workers” and said it is “deeply disturbed by the continuing trend of heavy-handedness by the state authorities in Uttar Pradesh with respect to journalists and media”.

“EGI finds this incident highly condemnable and actionable. This incident has come against the backdrop of increased persecution of journalists in the state of UP, as the administration has punished, penalized, and incarcerated journalists in an effort to intimidate them from freely reporting on crimes, state excesses, and the management of the pandemic,” said the statement, signed by Guild president Seema Mustafa, general secretary Sanjay Kapoor and treasurer Anant Nath.

Acknowledging that the CDO has since apologised to Tiwari, the Guild said, “…this attitude of heavy handedness by the administration is hurting the democratic rights of the media, which becomes all the more crucial given that the state goes into polls next year.”

Read the full statement here:

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