Editor's Guild Condemns FIR's against Journalists

The protests at the Red Fort on the 72nd Republic Day saw mass coverage by the media agencies. Reporters flocked to get a glimpse of the protestors attempting to unfurl the Sikh Flag atop the historic monument from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Independence Day. Due to their reporting, several FIR's have been registered in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and several journalists, including India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s Mrinal Pandey, Zafar Agha of Qaumi Awaz, and The Caravan’s Anant Nath and Vinod Jose for their tweets and reporting on the Republic Day violence. 

Prominent personalities like Mamata Banerjee came in support of the journalists:

The Editors Guild of India condemned the filing of the FIR's and issued an official statement in this regard:
 

According to the official media reports, the Guild further stated that the journalists have been specifically targeted for reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protesters on their personal social media handles as well as on those of the publications they lead and represent.

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 as well as the focus of the entire matter.

“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 commented. 

The complaints were booked on the basis for breaking edition laws, promoting communal disharmony, and insulting religious beliefs. 

The Guild has further stated that the sedition laws have been used in the country in the recent years to suppress the freedom of expression. It went on to comment that the claim that the tweets were “intentionally malicious” were false.

Furthermore, the Guild went on to state: “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,”.

Several journalists however targetted the Guild's decsion to issue the statement:

However, it is true that this system targeting of journalists shamefully violates and tramples on every value that our democratic republic stands for. It is definately intended to grievously hurt the media and prevent it from working as an independent watchdog of the Indian democratic order. 

According to the website statista, Indian Journalism stands at a difficult juncture as per recent reports:

Reports in the media have also suggested that the current Right Wing government has been increasingly becoming anti-democratic with several journalists and media persons being targetted in the past. 

"We demand that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom," the Guild stated firmly in a public statement. 

The much debated Section 124A of the IPC, which deals with sedition, states, "Whoever, words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine."

Furthermore, Sedition is a non-bailable offence. Punishment under the law includes imprisonment upto three years to a life term and fine. The person charged with the act cannot apply for Government jobs and has to give up his/her passport with reporting to the concerned court whenever recquired by law.

The act has been criticised widely. Mahatma Gandhi called Section 124A “the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen". Nehru termed it as "obnoxious". However, in July 2019, Nityanand Rai made a statement that no such provisions to scrap the laws will be taken. The act has the potential to become draconian in nature if used in a coverted manner.

The Editor's Guild has declared its stand and the final decsion would rest on the judiciary to either punish or forgive.

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