Six journalists working for both print and electronic media were arrested by the City Police when they staged protest before the C-Block of the State Secretariat for denial of entry to cover the inauguration of pylon by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as part of on-going global biodiversity conference.
The journalists, representing T- News, Namasthe Telangana, V6, HMTV and Munsif TV, had valid passes issued by the authorities concerned. They were among other journalists who were to be picked up at the Secretariat by a special vehicle. However, six journalists were not allowed to board the media vehicle. When the journalists sought to know the reasons, the officials feigned ignorance and said they were just following the orders of thier superiors.
The journalists were soon joined by other media persons from the Telangana region. They staged a protest before the C-Block, which houses the Chief Minister’s Office. However, the journalists were taken into custody and shifted to Saifabad Police Station. On getting the news, several journalists from the Telangana region assembled at the police station and raised pro-Telangana and anti-police slogans. Telangana Political Joint Action Committee leader Srinivas Goud and other activists too staged dharna demanding release of journalists.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Working Journalist Federation president SM Hashmi and others met Information and Public Relations Minister DK Aruna and Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy over the issue. Registering their protest, the federation said that the incident was highly condemnable and journalists could not be discriminated on the basis of the region.
The Telangana Journalists Forum and Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists Union too have condemned the State Government’s attitude towards Telangana journalists.
Meanwhile, TRS MLA T Harish Rao alleged that it was at the behest of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy that the security agencies have imposed a ban on the Telangana journalists, who went to cover the Prime Minister’s program at HICC. (INN)