SFI activists storm Asianet office; journalist bodies claim it is another media attack

New Delhi: A day after a group of SFI activists are accused of breaking into the Asianet News office in Kochi and intimidating staff members over a news report, journalist organisations have denounced the event and called it yet another instance of the rise in attacks on the media and writers.

The Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Delhi Union of Journalists, and Kerala Union of Working Journalists released a statement in which they declared that barging into media offices was "illegal" and should be seen as "an attack on press freedom."

“We expect the Kerala government to take strict action against those who attacked Asianet,” they said.

A group of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists allegedly trespassed into the office of Malayalam news channel Asianet News in Kochi on Friday and intimidated the staff over a report about the sexual assault of a girl, according to Kerala Police.

A case was later registered against 30 SFI activists, the student’s wing of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, on the basis of a complaint lodged by the channel.

Condemning the incident, the journalists’ bodies said, “We protest the attack on the TV channel Asianet News’ office in Kochi by the activists of the Students Federation of India.” “This is yet another example of the growing attacks against media organisations and journalists in the country.” The journalists’ bodies said Asianet News had used “a mock video” to bring out the issue of drug and sexual abuse of a young girl in Kerala.

“Stamping such a programme as fake news suggests ignorance of the professional ways used by news organisations to protect the identity of victims of sexual assault,” they said, adding, “There are methods and platforms to raise complaints against any news item in a legal manner.” The journalists’ bodies noted that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear in the Assembly that the police were looking into a complaint against the news report in question.

“Barging into media offices is illegal and should be considered as an attack on press freedom. We expect the Kerala government to take strict action against those who attacked Asianet,” they said.

“We condemn the attempts by certain political outfits, organisations and social media influencers in Kerala to instill media phobia by labelling all news and views as fake if they disagree with it,” they said, adding, “Demonising or undermining the media often protects vested interests.”

With PTI inputs