The security staff of UP Vidhan Sabha manhandled and heckled mediapersons who were covering the protests against the government by Samajwadi Party legislators inside the Assembly premises on Monday. Senior photojournalist of The Indian Express, Vishal Srivastava, was hit on his face by a security staff personnel. “A marshal first tried to remove an SP MLA from the protest spot. When he failed to do so, the marshal and other security staff tried to stop mediapersons from covering the incident and they pushed, heckled and manhandled us before forcibly taking us towards the exit gate. They stopped only when senior officials of the state Information Department intervened,” Srivastava said. According to mediapersons who were manhandled and heckled by the security staff team, they were covering the protest of SP MLAs outside the main portico of Vidhan Sabha building near the statue of Charan Singh before the Governor's address to the joint sitting of the legislature. After the incident, a team of affected journalists tried to speak with Speaker Satish Mahana, but could not meet him. The Samajwadi Party called the incident a blot on democracy and demanded strict action against security personnel. “Shameful! Misbehaviour with the fourth pillar of democracy at the UP Vidhan Sabha. Manhandling of The Indian Express photojournalist Vishal Srivastava and other mediapersons who were covering the protest staged by our legislators, is highly condemnable,” the SP tweeted. In a statement, SP president Akhilesh Yadav condemned the incident and said the BJP government was violating the democratic rights of media and public. Principal Secretary (UP Legislative Assembly) Pradeep Kumar Dubey did not respond to phone calls when reached for his comment.
