Attacks on journalists: Press Council team meets scribes in Mumbai

A three-member team of the Press Council of India on Monday met representatives of journalists' organisations here to get a feedback on the rising cases of attacks on scribes in the state."The Press Council team interacted with the senior journalists and police officials on the issue of attacks on mediapersons," a senior official said.Those who met the Council team here included Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh functionaries Devdas Matale, Shashikant Sandbhor, Kumar Kadam and Vijaykumar Bandal.Senior officials from police and state government's publicity department also interacted with the team, which is expected to interact with a few more journalists tomorrow.A member of the Patrakar Halla Virodhi Kruti Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation on the attacks, said they were not invited for the meeting.The Samiti has been demanding a law to make attacks against journalists a non-bailable offence, Samiti convenor SM Deshmukh said.Two years ago, scribes protested at the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Mantralaya, wearing helmets against Maharashtra Government's delay in coming out with the legislation.The state government constituted a committee to evaluate the demand for a separate law to prevent attacks on journalists. However, the Samiti termed its report "one-sided and prejudiced"."The state government has been assuring us since 2005 that it will bring in a legislation on the issue, but has not taken any concrete steps," Deshmukh said.Journalists, while doing their duty in collecting news, are increasingly facing violent attacks, Deshmukh said.