Manipur journalists hold sit-in protest over threats by militant outfit

During the protest, scribes displayed placards that read “Respect freedom of the Press,” and “Don’t infringe on the rights of the Press”, among others.

The sit-in protest started at 9 am and concluded at 2 pm. Later, a joint meeting of journalists, civil bodies, and women groups was convened at the Manipur Press Club and deliberated on the prevailing situation.

The meeting unanimously resolved to uphold the decision earlier taken by EGM and AMWJU in 2021, that media houses will refrain from publishing conflicting statements within a group or outfit.

The gathering also urged all sections to respect the local model code of conduct adopted by the media fraternity in order to smoothly discharge their duties in the strife-torn state. Media houses will resume work on Thursday.

Wednesday’s protest was a part of the cease-work strike launched by both electronic and print media since Monday following threats by a militant outfit. It is learnt that the prevailing situation was a fallout of an internal crisis within the outfit. Manipur scribes had resorted to a similar form of protest in November 2021 following diktats from the same outfit in conflict.