ITANAGAR, July 30 � The Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and the Arunachal Press Club (APC) on Monday decided to lift the 15-day ban that they had imposed on carrying the State Government news and advertisements.
Started off with a one-day shutdown of all the media houses on July 17, the fortnight-long boycott of all news and advertisements of the State Government was launched by the media fraternity in protest against the incident of firing on a lady journalist, Tongam Rina, while the associate editor of The Arunachal Times was entering her office on July 15 last.
The press bodies said that the symbolic protest was launched against the inaction of the Arunachal Pradesh government and its law-enforcing agencies along with the courts in bringing the attackers to book and awarding punishments to them, which showed its deadliest face in the attack on Tongam Rina.
Though they appreciated the efforts of the police in arresting 11 accused in the April 15 Arunachal Times vandalism case and identifying the now absconding mastermind, the media fraternity took serious exception to the fact that the gunman who had fired at Tongam Rina is still at large.
The organisations have appointed a legal advisor to maintain constant vigil on the legal process and advise them on the future course of action for expeditious investigations till a logical conclusion is reached, and the culprits in both the cases and all pending cases of attacks on media persons are brought to book and the conspirators exposed.
The journalists also resolved to continue their protests by highlighting the issue in the print media daily and to stage a dharna to draw the attention of one and all.
