Haflong,
5th March 2022 : The Dima Hasao District Committee of Journalists
Union of Assam (JUA) submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Assam on 3rd
May 2022, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day with rest of the JUA in
every district of Assam.
The
copy was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Smti. Nazreen Ahmed on May 5 in her
office chamber at Haflong.
The
Union is demanding : (1) Enactment of a special law for protection of
journalists in line with Maharashtra by the state. (2) Ensure safety and security of journalists in
the state. (3) Government and the media houses must provide a decent and
sustainable amount of salary which has direct bearing on press freedom. (4) Raise
the pension amount for journalists from present Rs8000 to 25000 ( Arunachal Pradesh
government has already enounced Rs 25000as pension amount to journalists). (5) All committees formed by the government for
welfare and other purposes including the press accreditation committee should have
representative of all the registered journalists bodies of the state. (6)The
state government should publish the status of investigation of all the slain
journalists and ensure justice to the families of the journalists killed since
1980 in the state without further delay.
The
memorandum was submitted by the President Surjyo Thaosen, Vice President L.K. Hengna,
Secretary Nirmal Singh and members like Sivan Nath, Biplob Deb and Prasanta
Dutta.
The
DC held discussion with the representatives of the Union about the memorandum
and other media related matters.
The
representatives also disclosed to the DC that DHJU is only the Dima Hasao
District Committee of JUA and their demands are common to District Committees
of JUA in Assam.
They
said that the professional Journalists of Haflong have their own body with its
name and style ‘Haflong Press Club’ since many years back. Only professional
Journalists working in mainstream media are accepted as member in ‘Haflong
Press Club’.
The Club present President is L.K. Hengna, Vice President Surjyo
Thaosen and Samsul Alam, General Secretary Pankaj Deb, Asstt. GS Nirmal Singh,
Treasurer Prasanta Dutta, members like Ex-GS Biplob Deb, Sivan Nath, and few others.
The
memorandum mentioned that United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be
World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of
the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to
respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article
19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the
anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles
put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.
The
memorandum also said that UNESCO also marks World Press Freedom Day each year
by bringing together media professionals, press freedom organisations and UN
agencies to assess the state of press freedom worldwide and discuss solutions
for addressing challenges.
The
memorandum, further, stated that Journalists Union of Assam (JUA), an affiliate
of Indian Journalists Union (IJU) observed the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)
every year to create awareness about importance of free press and to sensitize
the government and all other stakeholders for upholding of press freedom in the
state.
On
the occasion, they raise the mentioned issues that needs immediate attention
and action of the government, they added in the memorandum.
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