Marathi e-Batmya
मुंबई: प्रतिनिधी
कोरोना लॉकडाऊनच्या काळात पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदी यांनी दत्तक घेतलेल्या गावातील लोकांना सरकारने कोणतीही मदत केली नाही. त्यामुळे तेथील लोकांवर उपासमारीची वेळ आल्याची बातमी प्रसिध्द केली म्हणून scroll.in या संकेतस्थळाच्या पत्रकारावर उत्तर प्रदेशात गुन्हा दाखल करण्यात आला.
पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदी यांचा मतदारसंघ असलेल्या वाराणसी जिल्ह्यातील डोमरी या अनेत गावात लॉकडाऊनच्या काळात उपासमारीची वेळ आहे. या जिल्ह्यातील अनेक नागरिक हे रोजगाराच्या निमित्ताने इतरत्र जातात. मात्र लॉकडाऊनमुळे रोजगाराच्या निमित्ताने स्थलांतरीत झालेले आपल्या मुळ गावी आले. रोजगारच नसल्याने अनेकांजवळ पैसे राहीले नाहीत. त्यामुळे येथील नागरिकांना एकवेळचा चहा किंवा एकवेळच्या जेवणावरच दिवस काढावे लागत असल्याची माहिती येथील मालादेवी या महिलेने सदर संकेतस्थळाच्या कार्यकारी संपादक सुप्रिया शर्मा यांना सांगितले होते. तसे त्यांचे वक्तव्यही सदरच्या बातमीत त्यांच्या नावासह प्रकाशित करण्यात आले.
तरीही सदर महिलेने आपल्या वक्तव्याचा विपर्यास करून प्रसिध्द केले म्हणून शर्मा यांच्या दलित अत्याचार प्रतिबंधक अर्थात अॅट्रोसिटी कायद्याखाली उत्तर प्रदेशात गुन्हा दाखल केला.
यासंदर्भात पत्रकारांच्या बीयुजे संघटनेने सदर कृत्याचा निषेध नोंदवित भाजपा सरकारकडून लॉकडाऊन काळात पत्रकारांकडून करण्यात येत असलेल्या वृत्तांकनाबद्दल त्रास देण्याबाबत चिंता व्यक्त केली. तसेच जरी सरकार पत्रकारांचा आवाज दाबण्याचा प्रयत्न करत असेल तर आम्ही पत्रकारासोबत राहणार असल्याची सांगत दाखल करण्यात आलेले गुन्हे मागे घ्यावेत अशी मागणी बीयुजे संघटनेचे आय.के.जैन यांनी केली.
BUJ condemns FIR against Scroll Executive Editor, continued harassment of journalists covering Covid-19 pandemic
The Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) strongly condemns the lodging of an FIR against Ms Supriya Sharma, Executive Editor of Scroll.in, the latest in the spate of cases against journalists who have been covering the Covid-19 pandemic. These cases are nothing short of intimidation and harassment of journalists pursuing the tragic aftermath of the lockdown and amount to regulation and censorship of the uncomfortable truth they sought to uncover.
The case against Ms Sharma, (No.0088), was registered on June 13 by Uttar Pradesh police in Ramnagar police station of Varanasi district, under two sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and Sections 501 (printing matter known to be defamation) and absurdly, Sec 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code.
Ms Sharma had written a report entitled ‘In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Modi, people went hungry during the lockdown’, on June 8, 2020, The report, on the plight of marginalized villagers from Domari, details the story of several villagers, including Mala Devi, who was quoted in the report about her struggles to feed her four daughters and a son.
The FIR was based on a complaint filed by Mala Devi, who said that her story was misreported and that she did not face any troubles at all. In the FIR, Mala Devi also claimed that Ms Sharma’s report ‘made fun of her hunger and caste’. The article, quoting Mala Devi, said that she ‘had six souls to take care of. After her employers stopped paying her during the lockdown, the domestic worker made furtive trips to Banaras, in the hope that she would find some odd jobs or gather alms to buy food for her five children. She often failed. “We would sleep on chai and roti, sometimes not even that,” she said.’
Scroll.in , in a statement, says it stands by the article.
It is pertinent to note that Domari is a village near Varanasi, which was adopted by the Prime Minister under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna. Clearly, the facts uncovered in the report were unpalatable to the powers that be.
Journalists across India have been facing cases for reporting on the plight of the migrant workers. In Himachal Pradesh, journalists have faced multiple cases and in Uttar Pradesh, cases have been filed against the editor of Jansandesh Times, the editor of The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan and two journalists of Nation Live, Anuj Shukla and Ishita Singh, were arrested by Noida police on charges of allegedly defaming Chief Minister Adityanath in one of their reports.
The BUJ notes, with concern, that this harassment and intimidation of journalists in India comes amidst the ongoing crisis brought about by the spate of job losses, wage cuts and enforced furloughs. Scores of journalists have been affected by these illegal and unethical measures unleashed by media managements. It is ironical that the government, both at the Centre and respective state governments, turns a blind eye to these measures and in turn, makes no attempt to secure the safety and security of journalists on the field. It is a telling indictment of the true nature of the censorious state.
These twin attempts to weaken journalists, in the midst of an unprecedented lockdown in a global struggle against a pandemic that has claimed scores of lives, bode ill for democracy. The BUJ calls upon all journalists to strongly resist all such nefarious attempts and stand in solidarity with the marginalized and voiceless in society. The BUJ demands that all cases against journalists be dropped forthwith and that all efforts be made to ensure protection for journalists and journalism.
