Indian Journalists' Association elects new committee

Tuesday 18th June 2019 12:58 EDT
 
 

The Indian Journalists' Association has elected it's new office bearers on Friday 14 June 2019. Indian-origin and senior BBC journalist Naresh Kaushik has been elected as the President, with NDTV's Radhika Iyer as the Secretary and Sanjay Suri from CNN News 18 as the new Treasurer. The 72 year old organisation, that was established in May 1947, represents journalists based in the UK, representing Indian media or covering Indian affairs.

Kaushik told the PTI, “The Association is meant for members and, if you all agree, we could focus on being there for the welfare of journalists more than raising funds and would attempt to revive the IJA to its past glory.”

Kaushik has replaced past president Ashis Ray, who in January 2019 had triggered a controversy by hosting a press conference for Syed Shuja, an Indian cyber expert, who sought political asylum in the US, and claimed that the 2014 general election was “rigged” through the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which, he said, could be hacked.

This controversy led to a series of resignations from the IJA committee members, and a letter was circulated widely signed by fellow IJA journalists saying, “To our astonishment, it turned out to be a press conference via Skype by a masked man, with nothing to back up his claims.

“With Brexit and the forthcoming election in India there are many important debates to be had and issues to be investigated, but providing a platform for such serious and unsubstantiated claims merely sullies the discourse and adds to divisions.”

Kaushik and his team plans to revive the organisation and foster amicable relationship with major government organisations. It also wants to incorporate the use of technology as per the needs of a 21st century journalist body.


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