TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Most of the journalists covering the first day of the Goa Assembly budget session wore black armbands to register their protest against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s, ‘snide remarks denigrating the intelligence of the profession and allegations of paid news.’
Around 200 journalists registered with the Goa Union of Journalists had decided to wear black bands or black scarves while covering the budget session for the entire duration after Parrikar failed to publicly apologise for his remarks.
Many journalists in the press gallery and the press room attending the session wore black armbands as Goa Governor B V Wanchoo addressed the House at 11:30am.
GUJ President Kishor Naik Gaonkar said the union had requested the chief minister to apologise in public over his comments to which he had not responded. “This forced us to take a decision to wear black ribbons or scarves during the assembly session,” he said.
At the end of the morning session, Parrikar held a meeting with GUJ members and asked them to submit an application with a list of demands following which he would decide his course of action. The meeting lasted for anout 10 minutes.
