Guwahati: The abduction and murder of a foreign journalist in Syria by the militants and later publicizing the crime through the online video have shocked the conscience of media world. Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) from the eastern part of India has also expressed shock at the incident and urged the media fraternity of the globe to come one and all condemning the brutal act.
International media reports disclose that James W. Foley, an American photo-journalist was abducted in November 2012 from somewhere in Syria and later he was beheaded by an Al-Qaeda splinter group Islamic State. The militants in an online video claim that the 40 years old scribe was slaughtered as an act of retribution against U.S. military intervention in Iraq.
In the video posted to YouTube, a masked executioner addressed US president Barak Obama personally and threatened more bloodshed against Americans, including another captured American journalist (Steven J. Sotloff), who was also depicted in the video. Obama has already condemning the “act of beheading that shocks the conscience of the entire world” and pledged renewed determination to confront the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State.
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a media rights body has also condemned the barbaric murder of James Foley, who was kidnapped and held almost two years in Syria before the act of beheading.
“Foley went to Syria to show the plight of the Syrian people, to bear witness to their fight, and in so doing to fight for press freedom,” said CPJ chairman Sandra Mims Rowe in a statement issued from New York.
According to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Syria remains a dangerous country for the working journalists for more than two years. The Paris based media persons’ rights body revealed that 44 journalists have been killed in 2014 till today where the motives have been cleared that the victims were targeted because of his/her activities as a journalist.
The deadliest countries include Syria (10), Palestine (7), Ukraine (4), Philippines (3), Central African Republic (2), Iraq (3), Libya (2), Brazil (2), Afghanistan (2), Egypt (1), Colombia (1), Mexico (1), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1), Somalia (1), Bangladesh (1) and India (Tarun Kumar Acharya), claimed the RSF.
“Beheading of a journalist and uploading its video online is a matter of great concern for everyone in a civil society,” said a statement issued by JFA president Rupam Barua adding that the barbarism shown by the militants should be denounced by each and every netizen with minimum humanity and moral.
