New Delhi: Journalists staged a protest in parliament on Monday (July 29) after they were removed from Makar Dwar, where they interact with parliamentarians, in a move that was raised by the opposition in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Union budget 2024-25, following which speaker Om Birla met a delegation of journalists and assured them that he would look into the matter.
The move to restrict journalists’ movement in the parliament premises comes just weeks after the Editors Guild of India earlier this month, called on the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chairpersons to remove restrictions on journalists trying to cover proceedings in parliament.
It said that “only a fraction” of the roughly 1,000 media persons accredited to cover parliament are granted access to do so and that the process by which this access is given is “without transparent process or procedure”.
In a statement on X, the Press Club of India tweeted a video in which journalists who cover parliament were seen inside a glass room and demanded the removal of restrictions on their movement.
“Journalists stage protest in Parliament against restrictions on their movement in the premises and also they were removed to stand in front of ‘Makar Dwar’. At this Dwar, they used to interact with Parliamentarians from all sides,” the statement said.
Journalists stage protest in Parliament against restrictions on their movement in the premises and also they were removed to stand in front of “Makar Dwar”. At this Dwar, they used to interact with Parliamentarians from all sides
We demand lifting of restrictions imposed on them pic.twitter.com/Trp2GfDczq
— Press Club of India (@PCITweets) July 29, 2024
“We demand lifting of restrictions imposed on them.”
The matter was then raised by the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, during his speech in the discussion on the Union budget 2024-25. Gandhi who drew a reference to the Mahabharat legend where Abhimanyu was killed in a chakravyuh, in which he was trapped, to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in his speech said that a chakravyuh had also been drawn around the media.
“Sir, you have made another chakravyuh,” he said addressing Birla.
“You have locked the media in a cage. Please let them out.”
“Bechare mediawale hai,” Gandhi continued but Birla interjected and asked him not to use the word bechare.
“They are not bechare. Don’t use the word bechare for the media,” said Birla.
“Not bechare media persons have said to me to urge you to let them leave,” said Gandhi
Birla then told Gandhi that he could take up the matter with him in his chamber and not in the House.
Later Gandhi and other MPs from the Congress, TMC, and Shiv Sena (UBT) went and met the journalists.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose described the incident as an “assault on citizen rights.”
“This is totally unacceptable and must be immediately reversed. How can the press be removed from the house of the people? Removing journalists from Parliament is an assault on citizens rights,” she said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi who also met the journalists called the decision to restrict their movement “yet another arbitrary decision taken by the government.”
Later in the day, Birla met the journalists in his chamber and assured them that their grievances would be resolved, reported Press Trust of India.
