Guwahati: Kashmir and the North Eastern region were the "worst places" in the country for the safety of journalists, Indian Journalists Union Secretary General K Sreenivas Reddy said on May 17.

On the scribes working in the NE region and Kashmir, Reddy said, "The journalists are facing threats from the militants, while the security forces threaten their safety when they report their excesses."

In this connection, he referred to about 14 journalists being either killed or remaining untraceable in the NE region in the last decade.

While delivering the Parag Das Memorial Lecture, Reddy asserted that journalists in the country faced threats to their safety from three fronts.

"They face victimisation from their employers, endure harassment from the ruling establishment and face threats from the criminal and anti-social elements," he said.

"Then there is the problem of nexus between the criminal elements and sections of political and bureaucratic establishment. Whenever journalists try to bring to light such nexus, they have to face their wrath," he alleged.

In India and the world over, reporters' safety was becoming precarious with attacks on them on the increase and their employers not coming to their rescue, he regretted.

Recalling the experiences of journalists in Gujarat last year, Reddy said the unruly mobs incited by communal forces attacked print and electronic media personnel wantonly.

PTI