गांव सवेरा के संस्थापक मनदीप पुनिया की ये एफबी पोस्ट देखें-
Mandeep Punia-
बहुतेरे पत्रकार फ़ोन करके कह रहे हैं कि गाँव सवेरा के बंद किए जाने को लेकर हम सोशल मीडिया पर पोस्ट तो नहीं डाल सकते, हमारी मजबूरी है, पर वैसे आपके साथ हैं.
आप सभी साथियों के मोरल सपोर्ट के लिए शुक्रिया. बस मेरा इतना ही कहना है कि जब आपका नंबर आए तो अकेले मत पड़ जाना. कभी कोई साथ खड़ा होने वाला ही न मिले.बाक़ी पत्रकारों की क़ौम बहुत ईर्ष्यालु क़ौम है, जो हमारा चैनल बंद होने की ख़ुशी मना रहे हैं उनका भी धन्यवाद. हम आपकी ख़ुशी का कारण बने.
और उन पत्रकारों का भी धन्यवाद, जो ख़ासे बड़े होने की फीलिंग लिये फिरते हैं और छोटे मोटे अख़बार पोर्टल बंद होने पर प्रतिक्रिया नहीं देते.
उन पत्रकारों का विशेष धन्यवाद जो ख़ुद के काम के लिए हम लोगों को खूब तंग करते हैं और ऐसे मौक़ों पर ऐसे बिहेव करते हैं जैसे कुछ हुआ ही न हो.
इस मुद्दे पर पत्रकार संगठन डीयूजे की प्रतिक्रिया देखें-
DUJ Protests Freezing of Media Accounts
The Delhi Union of Journalists registers its strong protest at the repeated moves to muffle media voices in several parts of the country.
This week the Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounts of Gaon Savera, a prominent digital media platform that voices issues of farmers, were frozen on the direction of the Government of India. The decision has been taken amid agitations by farmers in Haryana and Punjab against the policies of the governments and a national convention of workers and peasants to be held in Delhi on August 24.
Gaon Savera is a multi-media outlet run by a young journalist, Mandeep Punia, who in the past was arrested for covering the farmers’ protests in the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders of Delhi. His media outlet carries news and views on village life and agriculture.
The mainstream media has largely remained silent on the demonstrations by farmers and their demands. Now, even small independent platforms such as Gaon-Savera that takes a pro farmers and pro people stand are being targeted. Along with Gaon Savera, the social media accounts of many farmer leaders have also been frozen.
Meanwhile, three days ago the website and the social media accounts of the Srinagar based news portal The Kashmir Walla were frozen. Its editor Fahad Shah had already been arrested in February 2022, had been charged under UAPA and languishes in jail. A former trainee reporter Sajad Gul is in a jail in Uttar Pradesh.
Closing down news portals, you tube channels and social media accounts is becoming a common tactic by governments, both in the states and at the centre. Prolonged internet bans, as in Manipur and Kashmir, are also becoming common. India is becoming infamous as the internet shutdown capital of the world, with the largest number of deliberate disruptions of the internet. The Delhi Union of Journalists calls for an end to all such arbitrary practices that bode ill for a free media and democracy.
