IJU to observe Protest Day on Oct 2

Hyderabad: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has announced that it would observe protest day on October 2, the birth day of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

In a statement issued on Tuesday K. Sreenivas Reddy, President and Balwinder Singh Jammu, Secretary General of IJU said that the Union in its National  Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held virtually on September 12 resolved to this effect.

The NEC has recalled that last year also the IJU has observed protest day on the birth anniversary of Mahatma. The IJU leaders said the NEC noted with concern that the situation on ground remained the same forcing the Union to do the same thing for the second consecutive year.

The IJU has been demanding Rs. 50 lakh life insurance to all working journalists on par with other frontline warriors against corona and payment of solarium to the families of journalists who succumbed to covid19.

During the last one and half years there were huge job losses and wage cuts in the field of journalism in the name of pandemic, the IJU leaders said and added that the Union Government has done precious little to rectify this situation.

And during this pandemic period situation has become very grim with state agencies at both union level and state level resorting to foisting false cases against independent journalists and media houses and rights activists, artists, writers, advocates and thinkers.

The IJU leaders said, under these circumstances the NEC has felt the need to repeat its peaceful protest on the day the Mahatma, the compelling teacher of nonviolence and satyagraha was born.

They appealed to the affiliate state unions to take up suitable programmes on the coming October 2 to highlight the demands of IJU and register their protest against the callousness of the Government.