The Logical Indian
17 June 2020
The Rights and Risks Analysis Group report said that journalists faced arrest, registration of FIRs, summons or show-cause notices, physical assaults, alleged destruction of properties and threats for doing their job.
As many as 55 journalists have been targeted for
covering the pandemic in India between March and May 31, revealed a Rights and
Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) report released on Monday, June 15. The report said
that journalists faced arrest, registration of FIRs, summons or show-cause
notices, physical assaults, alleged destruction of properties and threats for
doing their job. The RRAG conducts risk analysis to prevent violations of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, focusing on threats to the rule of law and
democracy. Further, it provides an analysis of state and non-state policies,
and also warnings on impending conflicts.
Uttar Pradesh leads the list with the maximum number of attacks on media persons
(11 cases), followed by six in Jammu and Kashmir, five in Himachal Pradesh,
four each in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra, two each in
Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, and one each in Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka,
Nagaland and Telangana, The Print reported.
Jai Singh Chibber of Punjabi Jagran was booked by the Punjab Police for writing
a news report about an unnamed Congress minister, reported Deccan Herald.
In another instance, an FIR was filed against thewire.in editor Siddharth
Varadarajan for his website reporting about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath attending a public religious event in Ayodhya on March 25, after the
lockdown was announced.
“India has become the riskiest place for journalists in the world. The
government of India, from the outset of the pandemic, sought to suppress press
freedom under the garb of deliberate or inaccurate reporting on Covid-19,”
said Suhas Chakma, director, RRAG.
“Even though on 31.03.2020, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with
the free discussion about the pandemic, the repression on the journalists who
acted as messengers by risking their lives to convey the news of various
mismanagement, deficiencies, corruption, the hunger of the migrant
workers/impoverished citizens, lack of adequate PPE for doctors at hospitals
etc began in earnest,” he added.
