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When gun is mightier: 67 journos killed in 24 years in India

September 08, 2017 10:36 IST

IMAGE: Demonstrators hold placards with the picture of journalist Gauri Lankesh during a 'Not In My Name' protest, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on September 6, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder right outside her house in Bengaluru, and the attack on a Bihar journalist are the latest incidents of violence against members of the fourth estate. Statistics reveal that from 1992 to 2016, at least 67 journalists in India have been killed on the job.

The data shows that most of the journalists killed belonged to vernacular publications, and nine worked with the English media.

Data compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows that from 1992 to 2016, 40 journalists were killed with 'confirmed motives'.

 

Another 27 journalists were killed in the same time period but the motives of their killing remain 'unconfirmed'.

The latest murder is of Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, who was shot dead allegedly by henchmen of former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammed Shahbuddin.

The bar graph below shows the number of journalists killed in India each year from 1992 to 2016. 

In addition to journalists, three employees -- two computer engineers and one security guard -- of Tamil daily Dinakaran were also killed in an attack in May 2007, who have been included in the bar graph. 

The state-wise data below shows that most journalists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.   

The numbers in the bar graph above does not include five ETV journalists who were killed in a car bomb explosion while covering the making of a film in Hyderabad in 2007, and the three Dinakaran employees.

Out of the journalists who were killed, 20 covered politics, 16 corruption, 10 crime, nine business and eight covered human rights. 

The Rediff News Bureau