The Press Club of India, journalists, and members of the civil society have reacted sharply to the FIR against Editors Guild of India (EGI) over their report on Manipur violence and have sought its withdrawal.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that an FIR has been filed against EGI President Seema Mustafa and three members of a fact-finding team that visited the state on August 7-10 and prepared a report on the situation in the state. The three fact-finding team members are Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan, and Sanjay Kapoor.
While the Press Club of India, Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), and journalists slammed the FIR, press bodies associated with the Meitei community in Manipur have threatened legal action over the content of the report. In its report, the EGI had flagged that "the media in Manipur was playing a partisan role in the ongoing ethnic conflict between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Chin minority" and said that Manipur media became "Meitei media".
Manipur has been in the grips of ethnic violence since May 3 when clashes erupted between the state's Meitei and tribal communities after a tribal rally opposing the proposed scheduled tribe status to the Meitis. Since then, over 150 people have been killed and sevral thousands have been displaced. Houses, places of worship, and government and political buildings have come under attack repeatedly.
Addressing the media, CM Singh said that the EGI's report was "totally one-sided" and did not factor in the complexity, background, and the history of Manipur.
Separately, following EGI's criticism, the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU) and Editors Guild Manipur have threatened the EGI with a "legal damage suit" if it does not issue a clarification on "grave misrepresentations", reported Newslaundry, adding that these bodies "strongly denied" the "motivated allegation based on hearsay" in the EGI report.
The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) came out in support of the EGI and condemned the FIR. They also called for the withdrawal of the FIR.
In a statement shared on Twitter, the PCI said it "strongly condemns" the FIR and termed the government action "strongarm tactic" amounting to "intimidation of the apex media body of the country".
The PCI further flagged the lodging of the FIR under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, 2hich the Supreme Court had struck down in 2015.
"The police have invoked Section 66A of the Information and Technology Act even though the provision has been struck down by the Supreme Court. On multiple occasions, the Apex Court has directed that nobody should be prosecuted under the provision," said the PCI, adding that the EGI did a "commendable job" by sending a fact-finding team to Manipur.
In a separate statement, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) condemned the legal threats issued against the journalists. It said the FIR "shows the government's intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with its narrative".
"The three-member EGI team, with more than 60 years of journalism experience between them, took the risk of coming to a conflict zone after receiving multiple representations about the partisan role of the media...The valley-based media has indulged in not just biased reporting, but in many cases resorted to publishing completely fabricated news -- one more than one occasion, Imphal newspapers have carried 'news' items about fierce gun battles between Kuki-Zo tribal groups in the heart of Lanka," said ITLF in a statement.
