NEW DELHI: The beautiful hills of Meghalaya are being destroyed by unchecked exploitation of rich minerals by the mining mafia who are in collusion with locals in the hill state, said Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, here on Saturday.
Everyday at least 300 trucks loaded with coal or limestone or sand are illegally transported to nearby Bangladesh from the state where land is mostly privately owned, Mukhim said.
“Nobody has an idea how much of coal and limestone are transported across the border by the cement major Lafarge through its largest ever conveyor belt,” she added.
Recently, reporting and writings on such brazenly illegal mining activities by a section of the media has earned the wrath of the mafia and some locals for which murderous attack was made on her recently, the senior journalist said while referring to the recent petrol bomb attack on her house. No arrests were made even after an FIR was lodged.
Not only mine mafia but also the ethnic conflict has become a cause for worry in the tribal state and the region, Mukhim said, adding, “At times some local tribal groups violently attack the non-tribals in the state who are even born and brought up in the state and factual reporting of such cases results in retribution on media by some non-state actors.”
Talking about freedom of press, Mukhim said the North East is far from the mainland and “there is considerable gap in every field, be it historical, geographical, psychological or social”.
“The public should now come forward and voice their protest for the freedom of press since the government has failed in this aspect,” she added.
Inaugurating the two-day convention, renowned actor Prakash Raj expressed concern over “deterioration” of freedom of press in India and said he was worried how the media “is being bought in the country in an organised manner”.
Speaking at the “National Convention Against Assault on Journalists”, Raj claimed that whenever he had spoken against the authorities it did not get published in the media.
Lalit Surjan, senior journalist and editor-in chief of Desh Bandhu who delivered the keynote address, called for unity among journalists. He also called for “devolution of ownership”.
“We cannot let people contributing money to media houses decide on the news going in it,” he said, hinting at the spread of paid news.
The event was organised by the Committee Against Assault on Journalists, an association of independent media and civil rights bodies, in collaboration with Press Club of India. There were several attacks on journalists in the recent months, some being fatal like the Gauri Lankesh case.