India: Mob Attacks Mamoni Bhattacharya, Four Other Journalists İn Tripura
Location: India, New Delhi
Date: November 26, 2021
At least five journalists were physically assaulted by a mob while covering the lead up to the election in the state of Tripura. This occurs after the several days of violence that wreaked havoc in the state earlier in the month. Mamoni Bhattacharya and her colleague Ali Akbar Lashkar of Kolkata based news organization, Ab Tak Khabar were forced flee the region after it became apparent just how grave the threat to their safety was. Representatives of political parties contesting the elections refuse to give a public statement about the violence they had to face.
The incident took place on November 21 when political workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition Trinamool Congress got into a public confrontation that turned violent. At least nineteen injuries were reported in the area of whom five were journalists including Mamoni Bhattacharya and Ali Akbar Lashkar. According to local publication Newslaundry others included Prashant Dey, a photographer for Headlines Tripura, Miltan Dhar, a photographer for News Vanguard and Bapan Das, a photographer with the news channel Times24.
Mamoni and Ali were taken to a hospital to tend to their injuries, however the violent crowd followed them there and threatened to attack them. The journalists were forced to hide in the hospital restroom to save their lives. When they eventually reached their hotel, the management asked them to vacate their rooms in order to avoid any potential violence. During the process the crowd also damaged property belonging to the two journalists.
“They gathered around me and they broke our boom mic into three pieces,” Mamoni told Newslaundry. “My watch was also broken fully.”
The political affiliation of the group that attacked the two journalists remains ambiguous.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism had earlier reported on the violence that took place in the state of Tripura and the consequent attempt to silence the press. It is astounding that the Tripura police would rather harass journalists covering the state instead of ensuring that the region is safe for political news reporting given the election season. We are appalled at the situation that Mamoni and Ali had to face and demand that the police urgently looks into the matter and arrests those accountable.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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