IWPC seeks action against cops who ‘stopped’ journalist from covering Cong protest

Two days after Navbharat Times assistant editor Poonam Pandey was allegedly detained while covering a Congress protest on women’s quota in Delhi, the Indian Women’s Press Corps condemned the incident and sought an inquiry.

“It is unfortunate that this incident comes close on the heels of several similar incidents where journalists reporting on events critical of the government have been targeted. As we have said on many occasions, this does not bode well for our democracy and needs to be called out in the strongest terms,” the association said in a statement on Thursday.

“The IWPC demands that an inquiry be instituted into the incident and urges the Delhi Police to take strict action against the errant officers who not only obstructed a journalist on duty but detained her against her will while on duty.”

The Press Club of India had sought a judicial probe on Tuesday.

An article in Navbharat Times had detailed the incident on Monday. 

“The policemen stopped her from making the video and started putting a black cloth in front of her phone. She protested and said that you cannot stop the media from covering the protest like this. She also showed her media ID card. Even after that, they kept stopping her and then tried to snatch her phone, which she protested against. No woman police personnel was seen there but there were women CRPF soldiers. They forcefully snatched her phone from her and despite her continuous protest and telling them that she was from the media, they put her in the bus with the protesters. From the bus too, she kept saying that you cannot detain a reporter like this and kept showing her ID card. But the bus closed the gate and moved ahead,” it read.