By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 12: After more than two months of unprecedented civic strife and violence, events in Manipur have gone off the front pages of the country’s newspapers. The incidents of violence were barbaric, with gross violation of human rights becoming routine.
As of last week, more than 142 people have been killed in the violence, over 300 wounded and over 50,000 internally displaced. Despite this, both the state and central government have not taken adequate measures to quell the violence or address the grievances of the clashing communities.
In view of this, a total of 103 journalists from media houses across the country have appealed to those covering this situation, to go beyond the ghastly reported beheading, burnings and shootings, to follow up with diligent fact-checking and contextualise reports of brutality and atrocities.
“We need more reporting from states like Mizoram and Assam, where the displaced have taken shelter, to bring alive the consequences of this ethnic war. Media from across the country must report, and media houses must demand security for their reporters. No pressure is being built on the government by the media to act and hold the state authorities accountable. In what people in the Northeast refer to as mainland India, the daily media coverage by national media outlets has rapidly receded. The Northeast has a long history of being invisible in the mainstream press,” a joint statement by the journos said.
“It is inconceivable that any of this could happen in India’s heartland or Southern states without reporters rushing there in droves or, the developments being lead coverage. There is little reporting of Manipur by mainstream TV channels. It is our sincere appeal to the editors to ensure that the Manipur situation is not only given front-page or prime time coverage but also adequate space in the form of editorials, articles, prime time discussions. We appeal to you to relentlessly document the horror and neglect so that the conflict becomes impossible for the government to treat as business as usual, and so that the full horror of what is happening cannot be ignored by citizens and lawmakers,” it added.
