Press Council team visits Imphal

Imphal: A three-member sub-committee of Press Council of India (PCI) today arrived at Imphal to recommend framing of guidelines for media and security forces in North East India.

As per the decision of PCI taken on June 10, the Sub-Committee has also been asked to examine the issue of recent directions issued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to the media fraternity of Manipur, said a press release issued by All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU.

The arrival of the Sub-Committee team is related to the summoning of a few Imphal-based editors by NIA in connection with the ambush by a conglomeration of proscribed outfits CorCom which led to the dead of six Assam Rifles jawans in the Indo-Myanmar borders in the state’s Chandel district on May 22.

The publication of the news about the ambush led the NIA to summon the Imphal-based editors to reveal the sources but AMWJU complained to the PCI stating it was a breach on freedom of press and professional ethics, said an advisor of AMWJU.

The PCI Sub-Committee team which included Ravindra Kumar, Kosuri Amarnath and CK Nayak will further interact with other relevant government representatives and other stakeholders till their departure on July 6, said the release.