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‘Is Kerala another country?’ Journalists condemn detention of Kerala reporters by Mangaluru police in letter to Karnataka CM
More than 70 journalists, researchers and activists have written a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, condemning the detention of journalists from Kerala by the Mangaluru police on Friday.
“The action of the Mangaluru police is shocking,” the letter reads. “Do the police think that Kerala is in another country? Do the police in Karnataka believe that identity cards issued by the Kerala government are not valid anywhere else?”
At least seven TV journalists from Kerala who had gone to Mangaluru to cover the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act were detained by the police for around seven hours, and “treated like criminals”, The Telegraph reported. They were released only after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Yediyurappa, expressing “deep concern” over the police’s action and urging him to intervene.
Mangaluru is under lockdown since two protesters were killed in police firing on Thursday.
Here’s the journalists’ letter to Yediyurappa in full:
To
The Chief Minister of Karnataka
Sir,
We, the undersigned journalists, strongly condemn the Mangaluru police debarring journalists from Kerala from covering protests in the city and ‘banishing’ them across the border on December 20, 2019.
At least seven journalists were actually transported by bus from the Mangalore-Kerala border and dropped off near Thalappady in Kerala at around 3.45 pm on Friday, December 20, 2019. The journalists were detained by the Karnataka Police in Mangaluru for over four hours and handed over to the police at around the Kerala-Karnataka border as if they were criminals.
On Friday morning, journalists from major Malayalam channels had reached Mangaluru to report on the follow-up of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest in the town. They had assembled at the hospital where the postmortem of two men killed in police firing was being done. Initially, they were asked to leave the premises but were later taken into custody under the pretext of verification. Though they produced their staff identity cards and accreditation cards, they were told these were not acceptable as the government of Kerala had issued the accreditation.
The action of the Mangaluru police is shocking. Do the police think that Kerala is in another country? Do the police in Karnataka believe that identity cards issued by the Kerala government are not valid anywhere else?
The action of the Karnataka police in creating a false barrier for journalists from a neighbouring state is highly divisive and dangerous, apart from being an illegal and unconstitutional act. This action by the police is a direct assault on the freedom of the media to report on events. Journalists perform an important duty in monitoring and reporting on issues and events and we strongly resist any attempt to intimidate or bar them from doing so. It will be necessary to point out that when accredited journalists from Karnataka go to Kerala, the Karnataka government accreditation is accepted and journalists are allowed to report from Kerala. This applies to non-accredited journalists too, and they too are allowed to report. So, it does not lie in the hands of the police to remove Kerala journalists as they did yesterday.
Please institute an immediate inquiry into this patently illegal act and instruct the police in Karnataka to desist from such practices forthwith. Please ensure that journalists from all parts of the Gitacountry have the freedom of access during their reportage of events.
BS Arun, Deputy Editor, Deccan Herald, Bengaluru
KM Rakesh, Associate Editor, The Telegraph, Bengaluru
Sugata Srinivasaraju, Independent Journalist and former Editorial Director, Asianet News Network
Naheed Ataulla, Freelance Journalist and former Political Editor, The Times of India, Bengaluru
Pooja Prasanna, Bureau Chief, South, Republic TV
Dhanya Rajendran, Editor, The News Minute, Bengaluru
Rohini Mohan, Independent Journalist, Bengaluru
Vandana Mohandas, Independent Journalist, Kochi
Ullekh NP, Executive Editor, Open magazine, New Delhi
Yamini Nair, Deputy Associate Editor, The Indian Express, New Delhi
Shahina KK, Open magazine
Gita Bakshi, Managing Editor, Nostalgia group of publications
Archana Ravi, Independent Journalist, Thiruvananthapuram
Geeta Seshu, Independent Journalist and Co-founder, Free Speech Collective, Mumbai
Laxmi Murthy, Independent Journalist and Co-founder, Free Speech Collective, Bengaluru
Gita Aravamudan, Independent Journalist, Bengaluru
Shoba Narayan, Freelance Journalist, Bengaluru
J M Siyad, Freelance Journalist, Thiruvananthapuram
Biju Muthathi, Kairali TV, Thiruvananthapuram
Tara Krishnaswamy, Citizen Activist, Bengaluru
Bageshree, Journalist, Bengaluru
Sravan Krishna, Senior Reporter, Asianet News, Bengaluru
N B Hombal, Senior Correspondent, Deccan Chronicle, Bengaluru
Chithira V, Independent Journalist, Kerala
Sudheesh Sudhakaran, Associate Editor, Evartha, Kerala
Anoop Das K, Reporter, Mathrubhumi News, Chennai
Giridhar Narayan, Journalist, Bengaluru
Vinu V John, Senior Coordinating Editor, Asianet News
R Sumesh, Reporter, Kerala Kaumudi
Adv Syam Devaraj, Research Scholar in Media Law, University of Kerala
Shobha S V, Independent Media Researcher, Bengaluru
Lekshmi Padma, Senior Broadcast Journalist, Asianet News
Mujahid Deputy, Reporter, Deccan Chronicle, Bengaluru
Sheethal J Raj, Chief Broadcast Journalist, Asianet News
Sahal C Muhammad, Senior Reporter, Asianet News, Kannur
Akhila Premachandran, Chief Broadcast Journalist, Asianet News
Sujaya Parvathy S, Chief Broadcast Journalist, Asianet News
M Shabbir Ahmed, Journalist, Chennai
Ramkumar, Journalist, Evartha
Jinu M Narayanan, Staff Correspondent, Madhyamam, Bengaluru
Suhail Ahemmed, Journalist, Asianet News
Vinod C, Mathrubhumi News
Rajani Varrier, Journalist, Asianet News, Kerala
Prince P Pappachen, Journalist, Asianet News
Linda F D’cruz, Independent Journalist, Thiruvananthapuram
Dilna Madhu, Senior Sub Editor, Mathrubhumi News, Thiruvananthapuram
Yasir Arafath, Nishabdam Online News
Manu P Toms, Senior Editor, Economic Times Prime
Mattanur Surendran, Correspondent, Madhyamam, Kannur
Syam Kumar AA, Chief Reporter, Asianet News, Pathanamthitta
Jiby J Kattakayam, Assistant Editor, The Times of India, New Delhi
Meena Menon, Independent Journalist and Author
Jatin Gandhi, Journalist, Author and Academic
UP Santhosh, Chief Sub Editor, Janmabhumi Daily, Kerala
Basanth P, Regional Editor, Mathrubhumi News
Jyoti Punwani, Freelance Journalist, Mumbai
Anjali Mody, Freelance Journalist, New Delhi.
P Sunderarajan, formerly with The Hindu, New Delhi
Sridevi Sunderarajan, Communications Specialist, New Delhi
AK Haris, Bureau Chief, Madhyamam, Kannur; President, Kannur Press Club
Deepa V, Assistant News Editor, The New Indian Express, Kochi
Adinarayana, Formerly with Enaadu, Bengaluru
Febin K Mansoor, Chief Sub Editor, 24 News
Kay Benedict, Independent Journalist
Ranjitha Gunasekaran, Assistant Resident Editor, The New Indian Express
Sabina Padman, Reporter, Janayugom, Kannur
Revathi Rajeevan, journalist, Bengaluru
Priya Elavally Madom, Chief Reporter, Asianet News,
Vipin Muraleedharan, Cameraman, Asianet News,
Indulekha Aravind, Senior Assistant Editor, The Economic Times, Bengaluru
Kiran HV, General Secretary, Press Club Bengaluru
Teesta Setalvad, co-editor, Sabrang India
Anant Bagaitkar, Sakal Media Group, Secretary General, Press Club of India
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