Members of the media fraternity in Manipur on Wednesday staged a protest against the pressure and “intimidation” from a militant group about news reports related to it, The Indian Express reported.
The protest was organised in Imphal by the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union and the Editors Guild Manipur. The journalists’ groups initially decided to cease the publication of newspapers indefinitely as a mark of protest, but then agreed to allow it from Thursday.
Journalists and editors held an emergency meeting before the protest, where they decided to not publish news about the militant group until its internal crisis was resolved. The identity of the group, however, is not clear.
An unidentified official from the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union told The Indian Express that media houses had come under pressure from the militant group in connection with the “publication and non-publication” of news. The official added that the situation arose out of a crisis in the group. “We are caught in between the devil and the deep blue sea,” the official said.
Another official with knowledge of the developments told The Hindu that this was not the first time that journalists in the state were facing pressure. “There have been pressures and counter pressures to cover or spike some news,” the officials said.
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