India trying its best to rescue journalists, camera teams stuck in Cairo

NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni on Friday expressing shock over the detention and attacks on journalists in Egypt said the Ministry of External Affairs is trying its best to rescue journalists and camera teams stuck in Cairo.

“Of course, whenever media comes under attack, we in India protest because all of us are used to very free media in our country and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Indian Embassy there are totally occupied in getting those camera teams and journalists of repute, who have been either taken prisoner, or whose camera equipment have been broken,” Soni told reporters here.

“But, it’s a much larger issue than that. The whole situation is full of violence, people are standing in confrontation positions, the common man of Egypt seems to be on the road, and I always feel that the rulers must listen to the voice of the common man,” she added.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had earlier on Thursday said: “I am pained and shocked to learn about the detention and attacks on journalists in Egypt, who were reporting on the unfolding developments.”

“Such incidents are totally unacceptable and must stop immediately. The journalists must be released unharmed forthwith and the government must ensure their safety and security. Violence has no place in any civil society and must be strongly condemned by all right thinking persons,” he added in a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.

Krishna’s condemnation of the incident came hours after supporters loyal to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attacked foreign journalists, drawing Washington’s censure and international rights groups’ accusations that the beatings and detentions were desperate moves by a teetering regime trying to cling to power.

On Thursday, India also issued advisory after journalists covering the confrontations between pro- and anti-regime protesters in Cairo got into troubles. (ANI)