The Journalists' Union of Assam has condemned the attack on two journalists in north-central Assam's Sonitpur district and said a string of such assaults has underlined the lack of safety and security for members of the fourth estate.
The JUA said Ashwini Bora and Parash Pal Bora of local TV channels Assam Talks and DY365 were brutally assaulted while collecting news at Bihaguri in the district on Thursday. "We demand an inquiry by the district administration and punishment of the miscreants," JUA general secretary Dhanjit Das said.
This was the fifth attack on journalists since March 22 when a restaurant owner and his employees stabbed Guwahati-based TV reporter Chakrapani Parashar when he tried to cover their argument with security guards of the building where the restaurant is located.
On April 27, miscreants had attacked two other journalists -- Rajen Deka, a reporter of Assamese daily Dainik Asom and Upasana Barua Goswami, a TV reporter of News18 -- at Mukalmua in western Assam and Tinsukia in eastern Assam 540 km apart.
The following day, DY365 reporter Rajib Bora was assaulted by a few youths in eastern Assam's Jorhat town. A few arrests were made in these incidents.
