SYED KHALIQUE AHMED
NEW DELHI, JAN 31
Shekhar Gupta, founder and current editor-in-chief of The Print, has said that “there is no criminality” involved in the tweets for which some of the senior journalists have been booked by the police under sedition and other criminals charges in the BJP-ruled states.
Gupta, who is also former editor-in-chief of The Indian Express, made his comments while speaking at a meeting organized by the Editors Guild of India and Press Club of India in association with Press Association, Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) and Delhi Union of Journalists at Press Club of India here today.
Pointing out that why the cases had been registered, the senior journalist said that this was a signal for the Indian media that if they refused to fall in line with the government, they could be charged for worst of the laws involving life sentence.
The Editors Guild of India condemns the intimidating manner in which UP and MP police have registered FIRs against senior journalists, for reporting on farmers’ protests in Delhi on Jan 26. EGI finds these FIRs as an attempt to intimidate, harass, and stifle free media. pic.twitter.com/Mf3albnYvs
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) January 29, 2021
“This is a signal to all of media all over the country that if you don’t fall in line now, then you can be charge for libel and contempt under the worst of laws which are cognizable, which can involve life sentences”, said in his speech.
Stating that there was lot of division and disagreement among journalists, he advised journalists not to weaken the media as an institution by imputing motives to the works of their journalist colleagues and show a “unanimity on basic issues of freedom of expression” with a view to fighting assault on the media.
Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, who is facing charges of sedition for his tweet regarding the death of a farmer during tractor rally on the Republic Day, stressed the need of “solidarity” among journalists to fight the “abuse of power” by the governments against the media whether it was in BJP-ruled or Congress-ruled state. He said that all “governments abuse power”.
Sardesai said that he was surprised that a case of sedition was also registered against 75-year-old Mrinal Pandey and a gentleman like Zafar Agha.
The meeting unanimously expressed its disapproval of the government to register sedition cases against senior journalists and demanded all criminal charges registered against them for discharge of their professional duty of reporting on farmers’ protest in the national capital on January 26 be withdrawn.
Sedition and criminal cases have been registered in UP, MP and Haryana, all BJP-ruled states against Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today, Mrinal Pande of National Herald, Zafar Agha Agha of Qaumi Awaz, Paresh Nath, founder and chief editor of The Caravan magazine, Anant Nath, editor of The Caravan and Vinod K. Jose, executive editor of The Caravan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on grounds of sharing “unverified” news regarding death of a farmer during tractor rally near ITO in Delhi on January 26.
The first FIR was filed in Sector 20 Police Station of NOIDA in UP by one Arpit Mishra. The Noida police lodged the FIR under IPC sections153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 298 (uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 502 (sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory matter), 124A (sedition), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and under section 66 of the Information Technology Act (computer-related offences).
The FIR said that it was circulation of ”fake news” by these persons through their tweets that “instigated violence” and this led to hoisting of religious flags at the Red Fort by removing Tricolour.
On the same day, MP police also filed a criminal case under Section 153 IPC pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups by circulating “false and misleading” tweets.
A similar complaint was lodged by the Gurgaon police in Haryana on a complaint by one Pankaj.
Criticising the registration of FIRs, the Editors’ Guild of India said that the senior journalists were reporting the developments as they emerged. It said that the FIRs amount to “intimidate, harass and stifle the media”.
“The FIRs allege that the tweets were intentionally malicious and were the reason for the desecration of the Red Fort. Nothing can be further from the 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. That the FIRs have been booked under as many as ten different provisions including sedition laws, promoting communal disharmony, and insulting religious beliefs, is further disturbing,” the Guild said.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of cases against the journalists, Delhi Union of Journalists said, “We reiterate our demand for a special law to protect media persons from arbitrary charges, arrests and prosecution for doing their job. We urge the repeal of draconian laws including the law on sedition,” it said. DUJ also expressed its concern over threats issued to journalist Neha Dixit.
(Syed Khalique Ahmed is the Chief Editor of indiatomorrow.in)
