Government Faces Media Freeze: Boycott Over ‘Manipur’ Censorship Deepens

Imphal, May 21: Journalists in Manipur have resumed normal duties after a one-day pen-down strike but declared a continued boycott of all state government-related news. This decision was announced following a joint emergency meeting of the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU) and the Editors’ Guild Manipur (EGM) on Tuesday, May 21.

The meeting, convened at the Manipur Press Club and adjourned briefly for discussions with the Hon’ble Governor, resumed in the evening and adopted four key resolutions.

While the pen-down strike was restricted to just one day, both journalist bodies stated that their boycott of news related to the Manipur State Government and its security apparatus would continue until the findings of an inquiry committee are made public and appropriate action is taken.

In their official resolution, AMWJU and EGM said:

“Boycott of all Manipur State Government related news and information, including State and Central Forces operating in Manipur, will be continued till the submission of the report of the Inquiring Committee and the action taken thereof.”

This follows the May 20 incident in which journalists traveling to cover the Shirui Festival were allegedly harassed by security forces at Gwaltabi, who forced them to conceal the word “Manipur” and the state registration code “MN” from their transport vehicle.

The unions have also recommended that the existing government order instituting an inquiry be modified to explicitly allow for the identification of responsible officials and the imposition of penalties for what they called “acts of omissions and commissions.”

They stated that:

“The Committee shall also identify the lapses and recommend penalty to those who due to their acts of omissions and commissions had caused the confusion leading to the harassment of journalists leading to their return from Gwaltabi.”

Further, AMWJU and EGM urged that the specific security personnel involved in the incident be redeployed elsewhere pending the inquiry.