The district unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) on Tuesday condemned the attack on Asianet journalist K. Shajahan, allegedly by CPI(M) activists, including its Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan in Kannur on Monday.
Mr. Shajahan, who is the district bureau chief of the Malayalam channel Asianet in Kozhikode, was allegedly attacked by CPI(M) activists in Kannur during the shooting of an election programme, 'Porkkalam', which he was anchoring.
At a meeting attended by KUWJ district and State leaders at the Press Club here on Tuesday, the union leaders termed the attack “unfortunate” and “highly condemnable” and asked the authorities concerned to take action against the offenders.
Speaking on the occasion, Press Club secretary K. Premnath said the attack on Mr. Shajahan was only the latest in a series of incidents in which journalists were attacked by the activists of different political parties across the State in recent times. “We need to be on a high alert against such nasty attacks which stem out of sheer intolerance,” said Mr. Premnath, who added that effective intervention was need from the part of the union to ward off such assaults against journalists in the future.
Press Club president R. Madhusankar said the present attack aroused more concern as a senior political leader of a prominent party was allegedly involved in it. Explaining how he was attacked during the shoot, Mr. Shajahan said the attack appeared more or less a “pre-planned one” rather than being a spontaneous response to the situation.
“It is high time that we identified the real face of such political leaders,” he said.
KUWJ State treasurer Kamal Varadoor, the former State secretary, N. Padmanabhan, and journalist Navas Poonoor among others spoke.
