Ashutosh Srivastava
Jaunpur/Geneva: On a day when India went for the fourth phase of polling, Ashutosh Srivastava, a 45-year-old journalist with Sudarshan News, who exposed cow slaughter cases, was targeted by miscreants on the outskirts of the city and murdered on May 13, 2024. He was sent to a nearby hospital but the attending doctors declared him dead.
Ashutosh, who hailed from Jaunpur, had received threats for a series of reports on illegal cow slaughter incidents. He had even urged the local police for protection but in vain.
The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global safety and media rights body, today condemned Ashutosh’s murder.
“Ashutosh Srivastava is the 46th victim among journalists killed since 1 January this year. We urge the Uttar Pradesh government led by hardliner Hindu nationalist Yogi Adityanath to investigate the murder and book the culprits for legal punishment. PEC also extends the local scribe’s body named Jaunpur Patrakar Sangh in its fight for justice to the victim,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC, adding that the local media organisations have demanded the government in Lucknow to offer Rs 5 million to the bereaved family.
It may be mentioned that the slaughtering of cows, which is adored by the Hindus as holy, remains illegal in Uttar Pradesh. The conflicts between the cow traders and Hindu nationalists are often reported in media outlets. “Ashutosh might have become a victim of circumstance and deserves justice,” Press Emblem Campaign’s South Asia representative Nava Thakuria said.
Thakuria revealed that five journo-casualties have been reported this year in the region where Pakistan lost three scribes (Maulana Mohammad Siddique Mengal, Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar and Tahira Nosheen Rana) along with one (Ko Myat Thu Tun) in Myanmar. Last year India witnessed the killing of journalists namely Shashikant Warishe, Abdur Rauf Alamgir and Vimal Kumar Yadav.
– global bihari bureau
