Punjab Press Gallery Committee condemns Delhi Police detention of journalists

The Press Gallery Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has taken strong cognizance of the dastardly incident in New Delhi, where the journalists from the State of Punjab covering the elections to the Delhi Vidhan Sabha were illegally kept in the Tughlaq Road police station for 8 hours by the Delhi Police.

Condemning the incident as a blot on the fair name of democratic norms and demanding foolproof security for the journalists covering the elections, the Chairman of the Press Gallery Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Ashwani Chawla said that the Committee has filed a written complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi.

Chawla further added that the journalists from Punjab were covering the Delhi Assembly polls discovered some malpractices being committed by members from a political outfit who were distributing liquor and other material to influence the voters in complete contravention of the Model Code of Conduct.

As part of their journalistic duty, the journalists started covering the above said incident which was objected to by the unscrupulous elements who grossly misbehaved with the Punjab journalists.

The journalists from Punjab then informed the Delhi Police hoping that justice would be served but alas the Delhi Police on reaching the spot, instead misbehaved with the Punjab journalists and throwing all norms to the wind, even took them into the custody. The detained journalists included a Member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Press Gallery Committee.

This despite the fact that all the journalists were duly carrying their ID proofs. They were kept in the police station for over 8 hours and were let off only when the news broke out into the media circles.

Hence, the Chief Election Commissioner is requested to ensure that such shameful incidents do not reoccur again, said Ashwani Chawla adding that strict action is called for against the erring police officials who were responsible.

Chawla also said that Media is the fourth pillar of the edifice of democracy and if the media persons would be forcibly stopped from discharging their rightful duty then it would be in a very bad taste.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Press Club too has condemned the incident in strong terms.