Gajendra Singh

Journalist

Rajasthan

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on August 28, 2020 regarding the assault of Mr. Gajendra Singh by a public official. Mr. Singh is a journalist from Charu district in Rajasthan and currently works with First India News.

Mr. Singh accompanied the residents of Kaka Colony on their request to submit a memorandum regarding concerns related to water to the Executive Engineer of the Water Department, Mr. Govind Prasad Sharma. When Mr. Sharma refused to accept the memorandum, the residents demanded the same in writing. Annoyed with this, Mr. Sharma allegedly started misbehaving with and abusing the residents, telling them to get out of his office. He threatened to take action against them for crowding in his office and not maintaining social distance. 

When he spotted Mr. Singh recording the proceedings, he asked him to stop recording and threatened to charge him with obstructing a public servant. He tried to snatch Mr. Singh’s mobile, assaulted him when he asked for Mr. Sharma’s opinion after the residents left, and pushed him outside the office premises. The incident was recorded by CCTV cameras and aired on TV channels. The SDM Ms. Rina Champa assured action on Mr. Singh’s complaint, but no action has been taken since.