The Editors Guild of India has condemned the filing of police cases against journalists over the farmers’ protest in Delhi on January 26. Police cases have been filed in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh against six journalists. All of them face charges including sedition, criminal conspiracy, and promoting enmity under the Indian Penal Code.
The journalists named in the FIR are Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath, and Anant Nath.
According to the statement from the Guild “ The 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 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”.
