Condemnation poured in from across the country over murder of two journalists in Bihar and Jharkhand.
While the Press Club of India, the Indian Women’s Press Corps and media organisations from different parts of the country termed the murders a “direct attack on the freedom of the press,” Bharatiya Janata Party leaders used the Bihar murder to target Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the state’s law and order situation.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted his condemnation and sought an independent investigation to punish the guilty.
“I strongly condemn murder of journalists Rajdeo Ranjan in Siwan and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Chatra district. Independent investigation may be instituted and guilty be punished,” Jaitley posted on Twitter.
Rajdeo Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi newspaper Hindustan, which is part of the HT Media, was shot dead at a busy market near Station Road in the district on Friday night.
Four suspects have been detained.
In the other incident, Indradeo Yadav, also known as Akhilesh Pratap, was gunned down in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Thursday night. He worked as a correspondent for a local TV channel.
BJP leaders attacked Nitish Kumar over the law and order situation in the state following the murder of the journalist and the killing of a teenager in Gaya and said that “maha jungle raj” has returned with the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) coming to power in the state.
“Before the Bihar election we were saying jungle raj will return to Bihar if the Mahagathbandhan comes to power, but we were wrong. Ab to maha jungle raj aa gaya hai (Now, there is big jungle raj),” BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore expressed condolences.
Press Club of India president Rahul Jalali in a statement said both murders “were targeted killings and form a part of attempts by the mafia to muzzle the independent voice of the media.”
“It is with increasing dismay we also note the increase in attempts to target the press throughout the country, by denigrating them and if nothing else works by eliminating them as has happened in these two cases,” he said.
Nadeem Ahmad Kazmi, secretary general of the Press Club of India, demanded that central and state governments come down heavily on the culprits and “also create an atmosphere conducive to the free and fair functioning of the media in the country.”
The Indian Women’s Press Corps urged the government to take immediate steps to find the culprits.
It said the “deliberate targeting” of the two journalists “is clearly an attempt to prevent the functioning of a free and independent media in the country.”
It also said “the IWPC also views with deep concern the efforts to smear the reputation of media professionals in many parts of the country.”
The Guwahati-based Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expressed shock over the murders.
Tripura Working Journalists Association (TWJA) and Tripura Journalists Union (TJU) also urged the authorities in Bihar and Jharkhand to take stringent action against the killers.
Meanwhile, the last rites of the Bihar journalist were held in Siwan.
Journalists wearing black badges held a protest in the district and demanded the arrest of those responsible.
Ranjan, 46, was planning to celebrate his 18th marriage anniversary yesterday.
His family said he had no enmity with anyone and was busy preparing for the last few days to celebrate the event.
His killing comes close on the heels of the murder of teenager Aditya Sachdeva allegedly by the son of a ruling Janata Dal-United lawmaker in Gaya district.