Bodies demand action, boycott Govt news
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, May 20 2025: All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) and Editors' Guild Manipur (EGM) on Tuesday submitted a joint memorandum to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, demanding immediate actions against security personnel who harassed a media team en route to cover the state-level Shirui Lily Festival in Ukhrul on Tuesday.

The journalists took out a protest march towards Raj Bhavan holding placards bearing slogans such as "We condemn harassment of media", "Stop silencing the Press", "Hands off Media", "Don't suppress media freedom", and "We want Justice".

Although police attempted to block the rally with barricades near the Kangla Western Gate, the journalists pushed ahead and reached the Raj Bhavan gate.

A delegation of AMWJU and EGM submitted a memorandum to Raj Bhavan condemning the incident and seeking action against what they termed a serious violation of press freedom.

Speaking to reporters after the submission, EGM general secretary Yumnam Rupachandra expressed shock and dismay over the incident.

"This kind of incident has never occurred in the history of Manipur.

It is a serious challenge to press freedom and both AMWJU and EGM strongly condemn it," he said.

Rupachandra added that further course of action would be decided after waiting for the government's response.

The memorandum, submitted following a joint emergency meeting held at Manipur Press Club, outlined a series of resolutions, including launching a state-wide pen-down strike on Wednesday, boycotting news related to the state government and central forces, and demanding accountability from both civil and security officials involved in the incident.

The appeal to the Governor came after a team of around 20 journalists and staff of Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), travelling in a government-owned vehicle, was stopped at Gwaltabi checkpoint in Imphal East on Tuesday morning.

The vehicle, which prominently displayed "Manipur State Transport", was arranged by DIPR exclusively for media coverage of the festival's opening day, which was inaugurated by the Governor himself.

According to the memorandum, the incident occurred despite the team having cleared at least three other security checkpoints after routine verification.

At Gwaltabi, roughly 25 km from Imphal, personnel of the 4th.Mahar Regiment allegedly instructed the journalists to conceal the words "Manipur State Transport" from the vehicle's front windshield.

This unexpected order caused confusion and concern among the media persons, who questioned the logic behind concealing the name of a government department while travelling within the state on an official assignment, Although the team initially attempted to comply with the directive to avoid further delay, prolonged negotiations with the security personnel led to a significant loss of time.

Consequently, the journalists abandoned their official assignment and returned to Imphal.

The team later made their own arrangements of transport to reach Imphal.

The incident has sparked serious questions over press freedom, public safety, and the broader security environment in the state.

In the memorandum, the journalist bodies raised concerns over the role and authority of the state government, questioning whether it is the state government or the central security forces that are currently in control of governance in Manipur.

It also stated that while objections from the Kuki community were understood, the act of the central forces in siding with those objections was "unprecedented and blatantly illegal in the true sense", the journalist bodies said in the memorandum.

The journalists were following official instructions issued by the ADM Ukhrul, who had advised travel from Imphal to Ukhrul between 6 am and 4 pm.

The memorandum stated that the act of the security personnel "tantamount to disturbing the professional duty of the journalists", and reflected an "utter lack of coordination" and "incompetency" on the part of those responsible.

In response, the joint meeting of AMWJU and EGM adopted several resolutions.

The journalist fraternity will observe a pen-down strike on Wednesday, suspending all normal duties.

The strike may be extended if no amicable solution is reached.

The meeting also resolved to boycott all Manipur state government-related news and information, including coverage of state and central forces operating in the state.

The memorandum demanded a thorough inquiry into the incident and called for the fixation of responsibility and sought penal action against officials directly involved in organising the Shirui Lily Festival, holding them accountable for their "irresponsibility and dereliction of duty".

It further called for action against those officials and personnel in charge of the area where the incident took place.

The journalist bodies also advised DIPR to conduct proper consultations with related stakeholders to prevent such incidents from occurring in future.

Meanwhile, an emergency general body meeting of AMWJU and EGM has been scheduled for Wednesday at 11 am at Manipur Press Club to discuss the fallout of the incident.

Pursuant to the resolutions adopted in Tuesday's meeting, a protest rally was carried out and submitted the memorandum to the Governor in person.

In their appeal, AMWJU and EGM urged the Governor to urgently look into the matter, identify those responsible for the confusion, and penalise for their incompetency or exceeding their brief or utter lack of coordination causing distress and hindrance to the journalists in performing their duties.

The media bodies further stressed that the incident raised a "serious issue about the writ of the state government within its jurisdiction" .

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