NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday raised in Parliament the issue of protection of journalists in the wake of the “brutal assault” on a Chennai-based journalist and demanded a legislation for protection of media persons.While Congress’ Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore wrote to home minister Amit Shah demanding a CBI inquiry into the Chennai case, his party colleague MV Rajeev Gowda demanded a law to protect journalists. Karthik, a journalist working for a Tamil magazine, was attacked by goons on March 3, allegedly at the behest of Tamil Nadu ’s dairy development minister. Tagore, on Wednesday, said an “genuine” inquiry under TN police was not possible because of the state minister’s involvement, necessitating a CBI inquiry.Gowda raised the issue through a Zero Hour mention in Rajya Sabha . “There is an urgent need to enact a national legislation for protection of journalists. In the past several years, India has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists,” he said.He said India ranked 13th in the Global Impunity Index in 2019, featuring countries with the worst record of punishing killers of journalists.He also cited ‘Reporters without Borders’ as having listed India at 140 out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index. The Congress MP said a sub-committee of the Press Council of India prepared a detailed report on attacks faced by working journalists in 2015.“It found 80 journalists have been killed in India since 1990 and most of the cases are still pending in courts,” he said.Gowda also said the report could be made the basis for the law for protection of journalists. “We have also heard of tragic cases of murder of journalists. Along with that threats, intimidation and violence against journalists are also a major problem. How long we will let this happen,” he asked.In the absence of legal protection and mechanism to create safe mechanism for journalists and media persons, the public domain and discourse suffers the most, he noted.“Therefore, I urge the government to enact a legislation for protection of journalists and media, and ensure freedom of press stays alive,” he said.