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Kolkata: The Federation of Press Clubs has demanded that the West Bengal government withdraw the criminal case registered against the journalists of Anandabazar Patrika over a front-page headline wherein the newspaper has used the phrase “saffron hooliganism”. This is the first response from a national press body since the FIR was registered on Friday (August 28).

In a statement issued from New Delhi on Sunday (August 30), the federation, which describes itself as a collective of eight press clubs across the country, said the case should be withdrawn forthwith and condemned its registration “in the strongest possible terms”.

“From the sequence of events, it is apparent that the West Bengal government does not want journalists, newspapers, and the media to speak freely and is attempting to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation against them by misusing the coercive executive powers of the State,” the statement said.

The statement........

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