The Press Council of India on Tuesday asked the Delhi Police and the Capital’s chief secretary to submit a report on the attack on three journalists of Caravan magazine on August 11.

“Press Council of India has taken suo-motu action against attack on ‘Caravan’ reporters seeking report from the chief secretary, the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Delhi,” the organisation said in a tweet.

Three journalists from Caravan magazine were attacked by a mob in North East Delhi’s Subhash Mohalla neighbourhood while they were reporting on a story on August 11.

Journalists Prabhjit Singh, Shahid Tantray and their colleague were covering communal tensions that broke out in the area on the night of August 5, following the foundation-laying ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In his complaint to the police, Singh said that had he not intervened, Tantray would have been beaten to death by the mob since he was a Muslim.

“The case of assault on journalists working with The Caravan shows a dangerous trend where communally inspired people can assault and harass journalists with impunity in the presence of an indifferent police,” the magazine had said in its statement after the attack.

At a meeting organised by the Press Club of India on August 13, the journalists said that the Delhi Police had been helpless and scared of the mob.

Several journalists’ organisations had expressed outrage over the attack on Singh, Tantray and their colleague and demanded a first information report against the accused. The Editors Guild of India called the attack on the journalists “reprehensible” and demanded that the police take quick action against the guilty.

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  2. Mob attack on journalists reporting on Delhi communal tension reflects India’s state of lawlessness