Cops issue media I-cards to scribes covering SSC protest

New Delhi: Journalists covering the protest by SSC aspirants at Sansad Marg on Saturday were given special media identity cards by Delhi Police.

Mediapersons and photographers were asked to wear the identity card at all times during the protest, so that police personnel on ground duty could identify them and not confuse them with protestors.

The move comes in the wake of a female photojournalist being beaten up by policewomen some days ago, while she was covering a protest by JNU students and teachers in south Delhi.

Delhi Police sources said that it is aimed at distinguishing between protestors and journalists.

Special Commsioner of Oolice Deepender Pathak earlier said that since most of journalists are young, it is hard to differentiate them and protestors.

The police assault on a female photographer led to wide protest by scribes, both from print and electronic media, outside the police Headquarter at ITO last week.

The protest only mellowed down after police assured necessary action.

It also forced Delhi Police to restructure their strategy of protest control, as cops have been accused of manhandling journalists on more than one ocassion in the recent past.

With the advent of mobile journalism, scribes working for web portals and electronic mediahouses are using smartphones to capture footage and cover live important events live, making it difficult for police to distinguish between protestors and journalists.

In the past, various print journalists were manhandled by Delhi Police while covering protests.

In May 2017, during Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Jamia Millia Islamia University in east Delhi, a news portal reporter was allegedly slapped by policemen while doing Facebook live session.