Targeted violence Jan-Jun 2021: Two of 35 journos killed worldwide from BJP-ruled UP

Ashu Yadav, Sulabh Srivastava

By A Representative  
In the first six months of 2021, of the 35 journalists killed in 21 countries around the world due to targeted violence, two were from India, both belonging to the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh -- Ashu Yadav from Kanpur and Sulabh Srivastava from Lucknow.
Revealing this, Nava Thakuria, India representative of the Switzerland- media rights and safety body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), said, last year India topped the list of jouno-casualties, with 16 deaths, followed by Mexico (12), Pakistan (8), Afghanistan (7), Bangladesh (1) and Indonesia (1).
In 2021, there were three casualties each in Mexico and Pakistan, followed by India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Azerbaijan and Ethiopia (two each), and US, Colombia, Greece, Turkey, Yemen, Haiti, Lebanon, Nigeria, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador and Gaza (one each).
"The PEC strongly condemns these killings and urges the local authorities to shed light on the causes of these crimes in order to arrest and prosecute those responsible," Blaise Lempen, general secretary of PEC, has demanded in a statement, adding, the PEC team is "particularly concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, particularly women journalists working there, due to the withdrawal of NATO troops."
Quoting PEC figures, Thakuria, a North-East based journalist, further said, more than 1,586 journalists died of Covid-19 in 78 countries since Mach 2020. Of this, India topped the list with 259 corona victims.