Imphal/Guwahati
The Manipur government filed the FIR against the President and three members of the Editors Guild of India based on a complaint received from “social worker” named Ngangom Sarat.
The FIR accuses them of trying to create more clashes in the strife-torn State and publishing an alleged factually incorrect report on the ethnic violence between the Kukis and the Meiteis, ongoing for the last four months.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday himself held a presser to inform the media about his government’s move after the EGI published its report criticising the “one-sided” media coverage in the northeastern State, slamming the internet ban as being detrimental to press reporting and claiming there were indications that the state leadership had turned partisan during the conflict period.
The Chief Minister said that at a time when many have been killed and left homeless, the EGI published a “totally one-sided” report without understanding the complexity of the crisis faced by Manipur, the background and the history of the state.
“Who constituted this fact-finding team? They were not authorised to constitute a fact-finding team and investigate Manipur issues. It is a self-styled (team) which has nothing to do with the present crisis in Manipur,” Singh said.
“If you want to do something, please come to the spot and see the ground reality by meeting the representatives of all communities and victims and then, you publish whatever you found,” he said.
The police invoked IPC sections 153A, 200, 295, 298, 500, 505(1)(b), 505(2) and 120B, relating to promoting enmity, defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class, uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person, public mischief etc.
The FIR lodged with Imphal Police Station named members of EGI’s fact-finding team Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor and EGI president Seema Mustafa.
Sarat described the report as “false, fabricated and sponsored”. “After a brief reading of the report, it is found that a picture has been shown under the caption ‘smoke rises from a Kuki house on 5 May’. But the fact is, the said photo is of the office of the forest beat officer in Churachandpur,” he had written in his complaint.
The EGI has already regretted the error in the photo caption. “There was an error in a photo caption in the report released on Sep 2. The same is being rectified and an updated report will be uploaded on the link shortly. We regret the error that crept in at the photo editing stage,” the EGI had written on X on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) condemned the filing of the FIR against the EGI team, stating it “showed the government’s intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with its narrative”.
“The three-member team from EGI, with more than 60 years of journalism experience among them, took the risk of coming to a conflict zone after receiving multiple representations about the partisan role of the media,” the ITLF said.
“No journalist or representative from the Meitei or tribal community followed them in their fact-finding mission. No one influenced their judgment,” it added.
The Press Club of India too condemned the FIR move. “It is a case of shooting the messenger rather than taking measures to restore peace in the state. We demand that the FIR against Editors Guild of India (EGI) president Seema Mustafa and the three members be withdrawn immediately,” the PCI said in a statement here.
