Editors Guild condemns FIRs against journalists for tweets on farmer protests
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The Editors Guild of India on Friday condemned the “intimidating manner” in which the police of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have registered cases against journalists and editors for reporting the violence during a tractor rally protest by farmers in Delhi on January 26.
The press body called this an attempt to “harass, browbeat and stifle” the media. That fact the FIRs have been booked under as many as ten different provisions including sedition laws, promoting communal disharmony, and insulting religious beliefs, was further disturbing, it said.
At least one protester was killed and over 300 police officers were injured after tens of thousands of farmers took to the streets of Delhi on Tuesday to call for the repeal of contentious new agriculture laws. The protestors broke through barricades and poured into the city, clashing with a police force that tried to push them back with tear gas and a baton charge. Some of them stormed the Red Fort.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday booked several journalists under sedition laws for allegedly misreporting and spreading disharmony during the clashes between the police and protesting farmers on Republic Day.
The FIR was filed against India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s senior consulting editor Mrinal Pande, Qaumi Awaz editor Zafar Agha, The Caravan magazine’s editor and founder Paresh Nath, The Caravan editor Anant Nath and its executive editor Vinod K Jose.
It accused them of inciting riots through their social media posts. The FIR said the accused persons circulated fake news alleging that the police have shot a person dead.
In a statement released on Friday, the Editors Guild noted that the journalists had been specifically targeted for reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protestors on their personal social media handles as well as those of the publications they lead and represent.
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“It must be noted that on the day of the protest and high action, several reports were emerging from eyewitnesses on the ground as well as from the police, and therefore it was only natural for journalists to report all the details as they emerged,” the press body said. “This is in line with established norms of journalistic practice.”
The FIRs against the journalists allege that the tweets were intentionally malicious and had incited the protestors to storm into the Red Fort. But “nothing can be further from truth,” the Editors Guild said. “On a day thick with information, the EGI finds these FIRs, filed in different states, as an attempt to intimidate, harass, browbeat, and stifle the media.”
The guild demanded that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report
without fear and with freedom. “This targeting of journalists grievously violates and tramples on every value that our democratic republic stands for,” it said. “It is intended to grievously hurt the media and prevent it from working as an independent watchdog of Indian democracy.”
The press body added, “We re-iterate our earlier demand that the higher judiciary takes serious cognizance of the fact that several laws such as a sedition are often used to impede freedom of speech, and issue guidelines to ensure that wanton use of such laws does not serve as a deterrent to a free press”.
Editors Guild condemns BJP governments for filing FIRs against journalists
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Action by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh pertains to reporting on the farmers’ protest and the ensuing violence that took place in Delhi on January 26.
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) strongly condemned BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments for filing FIRs against senior editors and journalists for reporting on the farmers’ protest and the ensuing violence that took place in Delhi on January 26.
It demanded that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately.
The Guild statement refers to specific incident of reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protesters on their personal social media handles as well as those of the publications they lead and represent. However, no journalist has been named in the statement.
The death of Navreet Singh, who as per the police accounts died after the tractor he was driving overturned, has become a point of contention.
‘Established norms’
“It must be noted that on the day of the protest and high action, several reports were emerging from eyewitnesses on the ground as well as from the police, and therefore it was only natural for journalists to report all the details as they emerged. This is in line with established norms of journalistic practice,” the Guild said.
The statement said that the claim that the tweets were “intentionally malicious” was false.
“On a day thick with information, the EGI finds these FIRs, filed in different States, as an attempt to intimidate, harass, browbeat, and stifle the media,” the Guild said. It was disturbing that the FIR had been booked under 10 provisions.
“This targeting of journalists grievously violates and tramples on every value that our democratic republic stands for. It is intended to grievously hurt the media and prevent it from working as an independent watchdog of Indian democracy,” the statement added.
The Guild also reiterated the demand that the higher judiciary take serious cognisance of the fact that several laws such as sedition were often used to impede freedom of speech, and issue guidelines to ensure that wanton use of such laws did not serve as a deterrent to a free press.
The Press Club of India too spoke in support of the journalists. “It is noteworthy that these journalists have been attacked by two State governments which are run by the same political party that dominates the Centre, and it will be a striking coincidence if their actions are free from guidance from on high,” the Press Club of India said in a statement here.
Media bodies slam FIRs against journalists over R-Day violence
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New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) Media bodies on Friday strongly condemned the filing of FIRs against senior editors and journalists for their reporting on the farmers’ tractor rally and the ensuing violence here on Republic Day, saying it was an attempt to ‘browbeat’ and ‘intimidate’ the media.
In a statement, the Editors Guild of India demanded that such FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom.
It said journalists have been specifically targeted for reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protestors on their personal social media handles as well as those of the publications they lead and represent.
‘It must be noted that on the day of the protest and high action, several reports were emerging from eyewitnesses on the ground as well as from police, and therefore it was only natural for journalists to report all the details as they emerged. This is in line with established norms of journalistic practice,’ the Guild said.
The Editors Guild said it ‘strongly condemns the intimidating manner in the way in which the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Police’ have registered FIRs against senior editors and journalists (including current and former office-bearers of EGI) for reporting on the farmers’ protest rallies and the ensuing violence that took place in the national capital on January 26.
The FIRs allege that the tweets were intentionally malicious and were the reason for the desecration of the Red Fort, the Guild noted, asserting that nothing can be further from truth.
‘On a day thick with information, the EGI finds these FIRs, filed in different states, as an attempt to intimidate, harass, browbeat, and stifle the media,’ the Guild said.
That the FIRs have been booked under a total of 10 different provisions, including sedition laws, promoting communal disharmony, and insulting religious beliefs, is further disturbing, it said.
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‘This targeting of journalists grievously violates and tramples on every value that our democratic republic stands for. It is intended to grievously hurt the media and prevent it from working as an independent watchdog of Indian democracy,’ the statement said.
‘We demand that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom,’ the Guild said.
The Guild also reiterated its earlier demand that the higher judiciary takes serious cognizance of the fact that several laws such as a sedition are often used to impede freedom of speech, and issue guidelines to ensure that ‘wanton use of such laws does not serve as a deterrent to a free press’.
The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) also ‘unequivocally’ condemned the Uttar Pradesh Police’s decision to file an FIR for sedition against Mrinal Pande, founder president of the IWPC, along with several leading journalists, allegedly because they shared ‘unverified’ news during the farmers tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day.
In a statement, the IWPC said it believes that the charges against Pande, who has been the editor of several leading news publications in the country, ‘smack of a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the situation’.
‘It is an attempt to browbeat the media and push it to fall in line,’ the IWPC said.
To attribute malafide intent against Pande and the other journalists charged is a ‘ham handed attempt at besmirching their reputation’, it said.
The Press Club of India said it is shocked to learn that UP and MP police have lodged FIRs against respected journalists, and others, on various counts of breach of criminal law, including sedition.
‘We call upon the authorities in Lucknow and Bhopal to retract their vile move against well-known and respected journalists. We also call upon the Union Home Ministry to reassess the situation and tender the counsel of caution to the UP and the MP governments,’ the Press Club said.
‘Anything less will be a willful tampering with the tenets of democracy. It will also be seen as a move to muzzle the media. We urge the government not to drag journalists in its ongoing actions in relation to protesting farmers,’ it said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists have been booked by the Noida Police for sedition, among other charges, over the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi, officials said on Thursday.
The journalists named in the FIR are Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath. An unidentified person has also been named in the FIR.
Madhya Pradesh police have also filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Tharoor and the six journalists over their ‘misleading’ tweets on the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi. PTI ASK ASK TDS TDS