A delegation comprising editors of leading television news channels today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a judicial probe into the manhandling of mediapersons in Patiala House Court complex on Monday.
Voicing serious concern, the members of the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA) said the journalists had gone to cover the court proceedings following the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar with valid passes despite which they were assaulted by a group of "people in black coats" supported by some "unknown" persons.
"It carries ominous signs as it is not only a pre-meditated assault on journalists but also on roots of democracy," the BEA members said in a letter which was handed over to the Home Minister.
Democratic institutions cannot remain oblivious to this incident which is "a wanton attempt at crushing the freedom of expression guaranteed by our Constitution," they said.
"In view of these developments, the BEA demands a judicial probe into the incident and calls upon the government to take exemplary steps against the culprit, so that such incidents do not occur in future," the BEA members said in the letter.
Any laxity on the part of the government will send "wrong signals" to elements working against the spirit of democracy, they added.
Apart from BEA President Shazi Zaman and General Secretary N K Singh, the delegation included eminent TV journalists Sonia Singh, Navika Kumar, Deepak Chaurasia, Satish K Singh, Supriya Prasad, Sanjay Bragta and others.
