The Supreme Court has granted interim protection to the members of Editors Guild of India against whom FIRs had been lodged after they released a fact finding report concerning Manipur, till the next date of hearing. The matter will be heard next on Monday, September 11.
On Tuesday, the press body issued a statement condemning the police action and Manipur Chief Minister's remarks against the fact-finding report. “The Guild is extremely disturbed that rather than respond to the concerns raised in the report in a meaningful way, the state government has registered FIRs invoking multiple provisions of the IPC,” the Guild said in a statement. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday accused the press body of trying to "provoke clashes" in the state.
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EGI report on Manipur
The Editors Guild, in a report published on Saturday, had slammed the internet ban in the state as being detrimental to media reportage, criticised what it termed as one-sided reporting by some media outlets and claimed there were indications that the state leadership "had turned partisan" during the conflict period.
"There are clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict. It should have avoided taking sides in the ethnic conflict but it failed to do its duty as a democratic government which should have represented the entire state," the report said.
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In normal circumstances, the EGI said, reports filed by journalists are cross-checked and monitored by their editors or chiefs of bureaus from the local administration, police and security forces, but this was not possible during the conflict and the internet ban made matters more worse.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Editors Guild of India on Tuesday said it was disturbed by the registration of FIR by the state police against its president and three members of its team that had visited the violence-hit state. "The Chief Minister’s labelling of the journalists body as “anti-State” and “anti- national” is deeply disturbing, especially given the way the Union Government has emphasised the country’s democratic credentials as well as the spirit of freedom of speech at the global stage for the upcoming G20 summit,” it further said.
Claiming that the EGI published a 'one-sided' report at a press conference on Monday, Chief Minister Singh said the Guild “instigated hostility among one another and attempted to cause more turmoil by putting oil to the already burning state instead of cooling down the flames”.
The Guild in response said that the “underlying idea of the report was to enable introspection and reflection on the media’s conduct in such a sensitive situation”. The press body also pointed out that the chief minister's remarks come at a time when the BJP-led Central government is emphasising India’s democratic credentials as well as the spirit of freedom of speech at a global stage for the G20 summit.
