Journalists in Manipur went on an indefinite strike on Sunday, after a hand-grenade attack on the office of a vernacular newspaper. Poknapham is the largest circulated vernacular newspaper in the state. Its office situated in the Keishampat Thiyam Leikei area of Imphal West District also publishes the Chronicle.
The office was attacked on Saturday at around 6:30pm. The CCTV footages showed a woman on a mope hurl the grenade at the office. The editor of the newspaper Aribam Robindo Sharma has told the media that they haven’t received any threats or intimidations. No organization has claimed responsibility for the attack. Call for a complete shutdown was given by All Manipur Working Journalist’s Union and the Editors Guild of Manipur. The media groups on Saturday conducted an emergency meeting in the Press Club after which it was decided to suspend all publications and broadcasts in protest.
According to a PTI report, all the television channels suspended bulletins and no newspaper was published as all media organizations in the state participated in the protest.
The Journalists held a sit-in protest from 11am to 3pm after which a memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
The memorandum sought to ensure free functioning of press in the state. The All Manipur Working Journalist”s Union and the Editors Guild of Manipur has informed the media that they will hold another round of meeting to decide the further course of action, reported the Indian Express.
arrests have been made in connection with the incident yet. The Manipur police has however launched a search operation and security measures has been taken to protect all the media houses in the state from any further attack.
