Shillong, Jan 07: Condemning the behavior of the home minister James K Sangma towards the journalists, the Meghalaya Editors’ and Publishers’ Association (MEPA) said that the media has the right to ask question to people in power while maintaining that “if the right of the media is throttled, the future of democracy will be in peril.”

The MEPA in its emergency executive committee meeting held on Tuesday has discussed the incident in details and felt that the behavior of the Home Minister towards the senior journalist is unbecoming of his stature since the concerned senior journalist and his colleagues present had wanted to meet the minister and discuss various issues related to the State.

“Since James K. Sangma is a minister in-charge of various departments and also the fact that he is the official spokesperson of the MDA Government, it is the duty of the journalists to meet him to get the version of the government on various issues. But the manner in which the said minister conducted himself and even trying to aggressively confront the senior journalist E M Jose is totally condemnable and unacceptable,” MEPA general secretary, John W Thabah said in a statement issued on Tuesday evening.

He informed the MEPA has resolved to demand an immediate public apology from James K. Sangma for his misbehavior towards the senior journalist and also to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.