Journalists heckled, stopped from covering SP protest in UP assembly

Several journalists covering the Samajwadi Party’s protest on the Uttar Pradesh assembly premises were allegedly assaulted by marshals on Monday. In videos widely circulated on social media, journalists were heckled and stopped from covering the protest.

SP legislators were protesting over inflation, law and order problems, and an incident in Kanpur Dehat, where a 45-year-old woman and her daughter set themselves afire during an anti-encroachment drive.

In a video, Indian Express photojournalist Vishal Srivastav alleged that one of the marshals pushed him and other journalists around him while they were covering the “routine” protests. “This has never happened before. I have been covering Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow since 1995,” said Srivastav. 

The SP’s Twitter account posted a video of Srivastav talking about the incident and said that it was "shameful". 

The Delhi Union of Journalists also issued a statement saying that it was “shocked and angered by the latest physical attack on mediapersons”. It demanded that the marshals responsible should be immediately dismissed.

“The assembly’s marshals are mandated to ensure order within the house, not in the area outside it. The police are supposed to manage that area. However, the marshals came out of the building to beat up both the protesters and the journalists. A marshal was videographed, giving orders to attack in order to disrupt the protest. There is sufficient video evidence to prove that the mediapersons were deliberately attacked,” the union stated.