Source : The Indian Express
A blow to freedom of press in Meghalaya as a bomb goes off under the bedroom window of Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim
Two unidentified persons hurled a petrol bomb at the residence of the editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim, on Tuesday evening in Shillong’s Umpling area. Mukhim said she heard an explosion outside her home and found the wall below her bedroom window charred. No one was injured in the incident.
Locals claimed to have seen two youths with their face covered hurling the bomb. A case has been filed and investigations are underway. Davis NR Marak, Superintendent of Police (SP), East Khasi Hills, had reached Mukhim’s residence soon after the incident.
Mukhim, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000, posted a picture of the bomb on Facebook expressing her shock. “Those who did this ugly deed need to be arrested. I heard the explosion and saw the flames rising. It’s a terrible feeling,” she wrote
Journalists from across the country have expressed their solidarity with Mukhim.
David Laithphlang, president of the Shillong Press Club, condemned the incident. “Peace has been our hallmark but we will not cower down before forces of evil and no attempt to dissuade us from discharging our professional duties and rendering our service will ever fructify,” he said in a statement.
