Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Union of Working Journalists on Friday sought immediate withdrawal of showcause notice served to some media organisations by the state Legislative Secretariat for shooting video of the recent scuffle in the state Assembly complex.
The union submitted a letter to Speaker A N Shamseer criticising the action and seeking his immediate intervention in the issue.
Justifying the videographing of the unexpected events which occurred last month, the Union said the journalists had captured the visuals of the clash between a section of opposition UDF MLAs and the house marshal, as part of their duty.
It was natural for media persons to capture the visuals of an incident that took place in front of them.
The Union also expressed doubt whether the present move was part of efforts to impose more regulations upon the media in the Assembly complex.
Any attempt to create obstacles in the path of free press by holding outdated technicalities as a weapon would undermine the democratic system, union state president M V Vineetha and general secretary R Kiran Babu said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan strongly condemned the notice and charged that the Legislative Secretariat's move was "arbitrary" and "reprehensive".
The approach of Pinarayi Vijayan government towards the journalists is the 'carbon copy' of that of Narendra Modi government at the Centre, he alleged.
He further charged that many staff members of ministers and ruling party MLAs had also recorded the visuals of the clash in their mobile phones and circulated it on social media platforms but no notice had been served to them.
The Assembly complex had witnessed unprecedented scenes in March when a section of opposition UDF legislators who marched to the office of Speaker Shamseer, accusing him of being biased in the House, got into a scuffle with House marshals.
At least four Opposition MLAs and seven Watch-and-Ward staff who were injured in the exchange had sought treatment at various hospitals.
