Reporters ✏️ slam attacks ⚔ on media in India

Journalists in dozens of cities across, protested against recent attacks on the media on the 148th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the country's independence movement.

"Journalists have protested in almost every state across India today. This is unprecedented and historic," tweeted senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on Monday, who was among the more than 100 journalists gathered at the Press Club of India in New Delhi. Between 100 to 150 journalists in New Delhi formed human chains to send a message of peace.

"Gandhi Jayanti is a day of peace. We took out a peaceful march from the Press Club of India to the Women's Press Corps," Munne Bharti, a journalist with NDTV, said. "Journalists are being attacked and killed, and the perpetrators are not being arrested.

We demand that government act against the killers. There are fears that journalists critical of the government might be targeted in the future. The government should take steps for the safety of journalists."

The recent killings of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh - a vocal critic of the government – and young reporter Shantanu Bhowmik has riled the media fraternity in India.

Journalists critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration have been targeted by online supporters of the government, many of them followed by Modi himself.

UCJ, UNILORIN.