Assam journalists protest editor´s killing
Nava Thakuria
April 07, 2009
Protest against the killing of an editor in Assam of Northeast India erupted, as the Journalist community declared and implemented a series of protest and demonstrations. A protest meet at the cremation ground itself appealed all the media persons of the State to get united and participate in the program demanding punishment to the culprits and compensation to the family of the editor.
Mentionable that Anil Majumder, the executive editor of an Assamese daily ´Aji´ was shot dead on the night of March 24 in front his residence at Rajgarh locality of Guwahati. The killers were waiting for the young editor to return from the office and soon after the assassination at around 10 pm, they fled. Hailed from Nalbari district, Majumder, 39, left behind his wife and two daughters.
The police, after two weeks of the incident, are yet to break any significant clue, though the department issued a sketch of the killer, prepared with the information fed by the driver of the editor, who was the lone witness of the murder.
Mentionable that Assam has lost over 20 editor-journalists in the last two decades and surprisingly enough not a single perpetrator of these heinous crimes had been booked under the law. The victims include Kamala Saikia, Deepak Swargiary, Kundarmal Agarwala, Manik Deuri, Prarag Kumar Das, Ratneswar Sarma Shastri, Nurul Haque, Jogesh Uzir, Dineswar Brahma, Girija Das, Monikan Das, Ranbir Roy, Prahlad Gowala, Maslimuddin, Bodosa Narzary, Jagajit Saikia etc. The killing of Anil Majumder has brought many issues to the public forum. He was a brave journalist but allegedly often ended up in biased reporting. He was prolific, but most of the time, he might got used by somebody else. From a local media correspondent in Nalbari, Majumder owned a daily newspaper in Guwahati, which shows his extra-ordinary zeal and hard labour for achieving success. But on the way, he grew enemies from different sections in the society including the media fraternity.
Who may be behind the killing of the editor, is yet to come to light. Three hypothesizes have been discussed in various media and public forums. First, as usual, the government agency was involved in the killing. Secondly, the militant out might have targeted him. Though both the theories can not claim much ground, as the government was not uncomfortable to the editor and it would hardly want this kind development prior to the polls scheduled in the next month. More over, the daily neither enjoyed high circulation nor support of influential readers.
Similarly, an armed group (United Liberation Front of Asom) leader denied their involvement in the killing of Majumder. He was understood as being closed to the outfit, for which Majumder was even arrested earlier. The police even suspect that he was involved with the militants for many ´non-journalistic´ activities.
The last theory that is gaining momentum that Majumder falls prey to personal vendetta. The editor was in dispute with a Guwahati based rich business man. The conflict between Majumder and the business man ended up in a court case, which is still pending.
The Journalists' Action Committee, an umbrella organization of media bodies of the State issued an ultimatum to the government to nab the killer within a week. The committee also submitted a memorandum to the State chief minister Tarun Gogoi urging him to take prompt actions. The committee has lately decided to knock the door of the High Court demanding high level enquiries of all the journo killing cases.
Earlier most of the Assamese dailies were published with blank editorials on March 26 as a mark of protest against the gruesome assassination. It was decided during the protest meet at the cremation ground on Wednesday where hundreds editor-journalists attended the meeting and expressed anguish at the failure of the authority to ensure protection to the media persons in the State.
The voice of protest has been raised a number of media bodies, students organizations, civil society and advocacy groups with political organizations in Assam. The chief minister himself condemned the killing and directed the State police chief GM Srivastava to take necessary actions to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
"It is the duty of the government to provide protection to everybody, particularly to journalists, and necessary steps will be taken," Gogoi told while visiting the family of Majumder to pay his condolence. Chandan Bagchi, a senor Indian National Congress leader after attending the funeral of Majumder, committed that he would carry the voice of resentment of journalists to their high command (read UPA chief Sonia Gandhi) and insisted that the killers should be brought under the law within three days. However, the police failed to nab the killers in the stipulated time period.
The Editors Guild of India asserted that the ´brutal killing of Mazumdar exposes the failure of the government to provide security to editors´. The Guild demands an intensive investigation into the murder of Mazumdar and also calls upon the government, civil society and media establishment to provide foolproof security to journalists and editors.
It also expressed its deep apprehensions about the safety of editors and journalists in Assam as many of them function under the shadow of threats. "Journalists and editors in Assam are pressurized by terrorist groups and sometimes by governmental agencies to write in favour of one group or other. Despite the threats editors and journalists have performed their duties," said the Guild president Rajdeep Sardesai.
The Brussels based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed shock at the murder of Majumder and conveyed its condolences to his family members. "Once again, since the murder of Jagajit Saikia last November, we are reminded of the unsettled and positively hazardous conditions under which journalists work in the Indian state of Assam," IFJ Asia-Pacific director Jacqueline Park said adding that the local authorities in Assam must go the extra mile to ensure the safety of journalists in the State.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) expressed shock and grief at the murder of Majumder. In a statement, issued from New York, the CPJ's executive director Joel Simon conveyed condolence to Majumder´s family and colleagues saying, "Police in Assam must investigate the motive for this killing immediately and reassure the local media community that journalists will not continue to be murdered with impunity." Similarly, the RSF in a statement said, "The situation of journalists working in this region is of great concern. They often pay dearly for refusing to docilely relay the propaganda put out by the various parties to the conflict." The Paris based media rights body ended urging the government ´to do everything possible to determine the motives of this murder and identify and arrest those responsible´.
Mentionable that Anil Majumder, the executive editor of an Assamese daily ´Aji´ was shot dead on the night of March 24 in front his residence at Rajgarh locality of Guwahati. The killers were waiting for the young editor to return from the office and soon after the assassination at around 10 pm, they fled. Hailed from Nalbari district, Majumder, 39, left behind his wife and two daughters.
The police, after two weeks of the incident, are yet to break any significant clue, though the department issued a sketch of the killer, prepared with the information fed by the driver of the editor, who was the lone witness of the murder.
Mentionable that Assam has lost over 20 editor-journalists in the last two decades and surprisingly enough not a single perpetrator of these heinous crimes had been booked under the law. The victims include Kamala Saikia, Deepak Swargiary, Kundarmal Agarwala, Manik Deuri, Prarag Kumar Das, Ratneswar Sarma Shastri, Nurul Haque, Jogesh Uzir, Dineswar Brahma, Girija Das, Monikan Das, Ranbir Roy, Prahlad Gowala, Maslimuddin, Bodosa Narzary, Jagajit Saikia etc. The killing of Anil Majumder has brought many issues to the public forum. He was a brave journalist but allegedly often ended up in biased reporting. He was prolific, but most of the time, he might got used by somebody else. From a local media correspondent in Nalbari, Majumder owned a daily newspaper in Guwahati, which shows his extra-ordinary zeal and hard labour for achieving success. But on the way, he grew enemies from different sections in the society including the media fraternity.
Who may be behind the killing of the editor, is yet to come to light. Three hypothesizes have been discussed in various media and public forums. First, as usual, the government agency was involved in the killing. Secondly, the militant out might have targeted him. Though both the theories can not claim much ground, as the government was not uncomfortable to the editor and it would hardly want this kind development prior to the polls scheduled in the next month. More over, the daily neither enjoyed high circulation nor support of influential readers.
Similarly, an armed group (United Liberation Front of Asom) leader denied their involvement in the killing of Majumder. He was understood as being closed to the outfit, for which Majumder was even arrested earlier. The police even suspect that he was involved with the militants for many ´non-journalistic´ activities.
The last theory that is gaining momentum that Majumder falls prey to personal vendetta. The editor was in dispute with a Guwahati based rich business man. The conflict between Majumder and the business man ended up in a court case, which is still pending.
The Journalists' Action Committee, an umbrella organization of media bodies of the State issued an ultimatum to the government to nab the killer within a week. The committee also submitted a memorandum to the State chief minister Tarun Gogoi urging him to take prompt actions. The committee has lately decided to knock the door of the High Court demanding high level enquiries of all the journo killing cases.
Earlier most of the Assamese dailies were published with blank editorials on March 26 as a mark of protest against the gruesome assassination. It was decided during the protest meet at the cremation ground on Wednesday where hundreds editor-journalists attended the meeting and expressed anguish at the failure of the authority to ensure protection to the media persons in the State.
The voice of protest has been raised a number of media bodies, students organizations, civil society and advocacy groups with political organizations in Assam. The chief minister himself condemned the killing and directed the State police chief GM Srivastava to take necessary actions to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
"It is the duty of the government to provide protection to everybody, particularly to journalists, and necessary steps will be taken," Gogoi told while visiting the family of Majumder to pay his condolence. Chandan Bagchi, a senor Indian National Congress leader after attending the funeral of Majumder, committed that he would carry the voice of resentment of journalists to their high command (read UPA chief Sonia Gandhi) and insisted that the killers should be brought under the law within three days. However, the police failed to nab the killers in the stipulated time period.
The Editors Guild of India asserted that the ´brutal killing of Mazumdar exposes the failure of the government to provide security to editors´. The Guild demands an intensive investigation into the murder of Mazumdar and also calls upon the government, civil society and media establishment to provide foolproof security to journalists and editors.
It also expressed its deep apprehensions about the safety of editors and journalists in Assam as many of them function under the shadow of threats. "Journalists and editors in Assam are pressurized by terrorist groups and sometimes by governmental agencies to write in favour of one group or other. Despite the threats editors and journalists have performed their duties," said the Guild president Rajdeep Sardesai.
The Brussels based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed shock at the murder of Majumder and conveyed its condolences to his family members. "Once again, since the murder of Jagajit Saikia last November, we are reminded of the unsettled and positively hazardous conditions under which journalists work in the Indian state of Assam," IFJ Asia-Pacific director Jacqueline Park said adding that the local authorities in Assam must go the extra mile to ensure the safety of journalists in the State.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) expressed shock and grief at the murder of Majumder. In a statement, issued from New York, the CPJ's executive director Joel Simon conveyed condolence to Majumder´s family and colleagues saying, "Police in Assam must investigate the motive for this killing immediately and reassure the local media community that journalists will not continue to be murdered with impunity." Similarly, the RSF in a statement said, "The situation of journalists working in this region is of great concern. They often pay dearly for refusing to docilely relay the propaganda put out by the various parties to the conflict." The Paris based media rights body ended urging the government ´to do everything possible to determine the motives of this murder and identify and arrest those responsible´.
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