DUJ condemns attacks on journalists

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) on Friday denounced what it said were "increasing incidents of attacks on journalists".

It said that on January 20, senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan was gheraoed by activists of the ABVP at the Allahabad University where he had gone to deliver a lecture at the invitation of the students union.

"He was not allowed to speak and had to return," the DUJ said in a statement.

The next day, journalist Revati Laul, who is writing a book on the Gujarat riots of 2002, was slapped and punched by a convict who was out on parole whom she had gone to interview, it said.

"Both these incidents point out the rising levels of intolerance in the country," it said, and urged journalists to condemn such attacks on the press.