NIA intruding press freedom: IFJ
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Dimapur, August 30 2013 :
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), that represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries, has warned that police investigators inquiring into the source of a picture published in a daily in Manipur in 2010 are "intruding into press freedom" .
India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), a recently constituted agency under India's Union Government, tasked specifically with investigating terrorism cases, has asked the editor of Naharolgee Thoudang, published from Imphal, to name the photographer involved in capturing an image of the "raising day" of a banned militant outfit, the Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) which has been engaged in an insurgency against government forces since 1978.The NIA also demanded that he hand over the original print or digital image of the picture published in the daily in 2010.This was reported by the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU), a unit of the IFJ-affiliated Indian Journalists' Union (IJU) ."We call on the investigating agency in India to reconsider and rescind its order to the Imphal newspaper, seeking it to identify the source of a news photograph," stated the IFJ-Asia Pacific Director and General Secretary in a media release.
"In a climate of uncertainty and fear, this adds to the sense of siege that journalists in Manipur work under" .
The IFJ has in past years had occasion to raise a number of concerns about the safety and security of journalists in Manipur.
With a population of less than three million and an estimated thirty underground militant organisations which operate with impunity, Manipur has always been challenging terrain for the practice of journalism, observed the IFJ.
Further, security officials are often known to issue explicit threats that media seen to be lending "direct or indirect" support to any of the banned militant groups would be liable for summary action, including seizure and forfeiture.
At the same time, the IFJ added, the militant groups exert pressures through numerous channels to seek publicity for particular points of view and deny others any manner of a hearing.