NEW YORK, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, Thursday called on Indian authorities in Uttar Pradesh to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the assault of journalist Pateshwari Singh and ensure that those responsible are held to account.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe brazen assault on Indian journalist Pateshwari Singh is unacceptable, and Uttar Pradesh authorities must leave no stone unturned in holding the perpetrators and those responsible for planning the attack to account,\u201d Robert Mahoney, CPJ\u2019s deputy executive director, in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuthorities in Uttar Pradesh must show that they are serious about ending impunity for attacks on journalists,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
On June 29, according to a report, a black SUV hit Singh from behind while he was driving his motorcycle in the Uttar Pradesh city of Ayodhya; five or six men then exited the vehicle and beat Singh with batons and iron rods, threw both of his cellphones to the ground, and fled when passersby arrived at the scene.<\/p>\n
Singh, the bureau chief of the Bharat Kanak newspaper and the Ayodhya correspondent for the Jan Sandesh Times newspaper, said in a video that the attackers cited his reporting on Indra Pratap Tiwari, also known as Khabbu Tiwari, a local lawmaker with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and Vikas Singh Deogarh, Tiwari\u2019s associate, saying, \u201cYou write against Vikas Singh Deogarh and Khabbu Tiwari. We will not let you live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singh said that he recently published articles critical of the alleged lack of development in Tiwari\u2019s constituency and had previously been approached by an unknown man who threatened to \u201cpunish\u201d him for that writing, according to The Telegraph.<\/p>\n
But Tiwari denied any involvement in the assault.<\/p>\n
The assault comes days after the death of Uttar Pradesh journalist Sulabh Srivastava and state authorities\u2019 opening criminal investigations into journalists Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, and Mohammed Zubair, as documented by CPJ. Last year in Uttar Pradesh, journalist Rakesh Singh died of burn injuries after his house was set on fire, allegedly by a local politician unhappy with his reporting, and Shubham Mani Tripathi was shot and killed after reporting on a land dispute, according to CPJ research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, Thursday called on Indian authorities in Uttar Pradesh to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the assault of journalist Pateshwari Singh and ensure that those responsible are held to account. \u201cThe brazen […]<\/p>\n
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