Foreign Desk Report
NEW YORK: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, has voiced concern over attacks on journalists in India’s Tripura state following critical reports in the media about alleged mishandling the coronavirus pandemic that drew grim warnings from the state’s state Chief Minister Biplab Deb.
In a statement, CPJ urged Tripura authorities drop any legal threats against publications there, thoroughly investigate attacks on journalists, and guarantee press freedom in the state.
On September 11, Chief Minister Deb, a member of India’s ruling BJP, condemned recent local news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which he alleged overstated the severity of the crisis, saying, “history will not forgive them (journalists), I shall not forgive them either,” according to news reports and a video of his remarks shared on Twitter cited by CPJ.
The following day, unidentified individuals beat up Parashar Biswas, a reporter with Bengali-language daily Syandan Patrika, at his home in Tripura’s Dhalai district.
