Journalists’ organisations in Manipur on Monday condemned the burning of copies of Imphal-based newspaper Poknapham by Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha activists, The Telegraph reported. The BJP activists had burnt copies of the daily on Saturday after it described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “cattle thief”.
The Manipur Editors’ Guild decided to keep the editorial columns of all newspapers blank on Monday. “The burning of a paper is nothing but an attempt to gag and muzzle the mouth of the media,” A Mobi, the president of the Editors Guild, said. “If there are any grievances against any newspaper, the aggrieved party can go to court, the Press Council of India or the journalists’ bodies in Manipur. Such action is not expected of a party, which is leading a government.”
The All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union also condemned the burning of newspapers, and said the matter could have been resolved by talks between the BJP Yuva Morcha and the journalists’ union.
In a weekly column called Vox Populi in Poknapham, the article had also said that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh could “help in recovering the stolen cow”. The column, which appeared on Saturday, is a political satire about the ongoing peace negotiations between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M).
The column also described interlocutor RN Ravi as a “mediator between a thief and an owner of the stolen cow”, angering the BJP Yuva Morcha activists. The protestors alleged that the article had defamed Modi and damaged the reputation of Biren Singh.
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