Civil Society Delegation to go to ECI at 4 pm today. PCI demands justice for assaulted scribes
A Civil Society delegation comprising of, Anjali Bhardwaj, Ashok Shamra, Shabnam Hashmi, Navsharan Singh, Aditi Mehta, Amrita Johri and Gautam Lahiri, president of Press club of India will go to the Election Commission of India office in Delhi to submit a letter demanding that the ECI disclose authenticated record of voter turnout figures as contained in Part I of Form 17 C.
The letter which has been signed by over 4,000 people demands greater transparency in the election process.
It may be recalled that few days earlier the Press Club of India and four other media organisations have written a letter to the ECI expressing their serious concern over the election commission not holding press conferences after every polling day including not submitting the data regarding actual votes polled after the polling the same day as used to be the case a decade earlier.
Several opposition leaders and political parties have written to the election commission of India in this regard including the chief of the biggest opposition party Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, an important ingredient of India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance and instead of resolving the matter in wider Public and constitutional interest the ECI had taken it very differently saying that not trusting on them amounts to allegedly creating anarchy.
In another letter sent to Election Commission of India the Press Club of India president Gautam Lahiri and chiefs of three other media organisations viz Parul Sharma, IWPC, C.K.Nayak Press association and SN Sinha, President , All India News Cameramen’s Association has expressed their deep concern over the increasing attacks on journalists while discharging their duties during the ongoing elections coverages across the country.
Referring to the incidents of journalist Raghav Trivedi being thrashed in a public meeting addressed by union home minister in Rae Bareilly and molestation of a woman journalist Tanya Chugh of ANI in a TMC rally at Behrampur, West Bengal the four media organisations’ presidents said that the free press is the cornerstone of democracy , crucial for holding elected political representatives accountable and fostering informed public discourse adding further that such things have become regular these days thus defeating the very purpose of being the largest democracy in the world also undermining the press freedom said the PCI letter sent to ECI.
The letter demanded through investigation in the matter and due justice to the suffering journalists at the earliest.
