Imphal Free Press

History

The original Imphal Free Press was owned by Sapam Nishikanta. In 1996, Pradip Phanjoubam left the company and started his own paper under the name Imphal Free Press.Sapam Nishikanta continued publishing under the names Manipur Free Press that turned into the Sangai Express, now the main competitor of the Imphal Free Press.

Phanjoubam edited the new Imphal Free Press till about 2012. By 2020, Phanjoubam ceased his connection with the paper, and Mayengbam Satyajit Singh was mentioned as its publisher. Other editors that are mentioned as having worked with the newspaper are Dhiren A. Sadokpam, and Chitra Ananthem.

Attacks

In 2006, a faction of the Kangleipak Communist Party forced a ban of three months on the Imphal Free Press. On 11 November 2008, an Imphal Free Press editor, Konsam Rishikant, was assassinated.

In 2020, the government of N. Biren Singh prosecuted the Imphal Free Press for criminal defamation, just for reporting the opinion poll results of Singh. The paper had to raise Rs. 350,000 in legal fees and other costs to defend itself.

References

References

1. Hmingchullo, Ruth. (2017). "Problems and Perspectives of the Relationship between the Media and Human Rights". Cambridge Scholars.
2. Misra, Neelesh. (2012). "The Absent State". Hachette India.
3. Das, Jayanta Vishnu. (2017). "Culture and Politics in South Asia: Performative Communication". Routledge.
4. Samom, Thingnam Anjulika. (2007). "Media under Siege. Media Functioning in an Armed Conflict Situation: A Case Study of Manipur". Social Action.
5. Chowdhury, Biplab Loho. (April 1998). "NE press fails to Rise to Occasion: Will it be Able to face Invasion of the Sky". [[Indian Institute of Mass Communication]].
6. (2006). "Where the Sun Rises when Shadows Fall: The North-East". [[Oxford University Press]].
7. Rana Siddiqui Zaman, [https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/under-the-shadow-of-fear/article2984660.ece Under the shadow of fear], The Hindu, 12 March 2012. "Owner of Imphal Free Press and its former editor Pradip Phanjoubam talks to ''The Hindu'' on what it takes to be a journalist in the troubled States of the North East."
8. Kunal Majumder, Aliya Iftikhar, [https://cpj.org/2020/02/manipurs-ex-journalist-chief-minister-ifp-defamation/ Manipur’s ex-journalist chief minister pursues Imphal Free Press for defamation], Committee to Protect Journalists, 20 February 2020.
9. [https://m.thewire.in/article/media/manipur-journalists-paojel-chaoba-dhiren-sadokpam-detained-released Police Release Detained Manipur Journalists, Say 'Case Is Not Closed'], The Wire, 18 January 2021.
10. Chitra Ananthem, [https://frontline.thehindu.com/politics/as-manipur-crisis-escalates-government-inaction-triggers-outrage/article66949747.ece As Manipur crisis escalates, government inaction triggers outrage], Frontline, 15 June 2023.
11. Samom, Thingnam Anjulika. (February 2009). "Manipur: The tussle and the compromise".
12. Mehrotra, Deepti Priya. (2009). "Burning Bright Irom Sharmila". Penguin Books.
13. (2009). "Freedom in the World 2009: The Annual Survey of Political Rights & Civil Liberties". Rowman & Littlefield.