Workshop on ‘Right to Freedom of Expression’

Safety and security of journalists are very much essentials as they are working for the protection of human rights. They are working as whistleblowers to express the irregularities in the society, said Justice Bira Kishore Mishra, the acting chairperson of Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC). Inaugurating a two day media workshop for working journalists in Bhubaneswar on Friday, he said, “commission is seriously considering setting up a focal point and a special cell to handle Human Rights Defender (HRD) cases”.

The workshop is jointly organised by Report on Reporters (RoR) and Civil Society Forum on Human Rights (CSFHR). Speaking on the occasion rights activist Dhirendra Panda, Convener of CSFHR, said, risks on journalists are increasing day-by-day. As they are defender, their rights should be protected. Convener of RoR, Sri Akhand said about the aim and objective of the forum.

In the different session senior journalists Jatindra Das, Basudev Mohapatra, Kedar Mishra and N.A.Shah Ansari spoke about right to freedom of press and use of social and community media for monitoring rights issues. More than 40 journalists and journalism students from different parts of the state, have attended the workshop. CSFHR’s Chandranath Dani, Akhand and Ranjit Sutar have managed the program.