In another incident of curbing press freedom, a local journalist was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district after he questioned state minister for secondary education Gulab Devi at a public event on March 11. Devi had visited Budh Nagar Khandwa to inaugurate a dam. The journalist is out on bail, as per media reports.
A video, which has now gone viral, shows a local reporter Sanjay Rana, seeking responses from Devi on several promises of development she had made ahead of the state assembly elections. An FIR was filed against him by Shubham Raghav, a leader from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, after the incident. Rana is associated with a YouTube channel called Moradabad Ujala.
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Speaking in Hindi, Rana is seen asking in the video: “You had said that you are adopting Budh Nagar Khandwa which comes under your constituency, Chandausi and that this village belongs to you. You had taken the oath in a temple. Addressing the elders of the village, you had asked them to let you know whatever work has to be done and you would get them done. Lastly, you had also said that if you win the election, you will return here (Budh Nagar) once again but you never came.”
“There is neither a single baarat ghar in the area nor a toilet. Moreover, you had promised to construct a road from the temple to here but no work has started. The condition is such that even two-wheelers have trouble travelling on it,” he asked further.
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Rana points out how the villagers had earlier tried to communicate the issues with the leader but their words were not heeded.
However, the young journalist was soon intercepted by a woman, whose face was not visible on the camera, following which Devi responds, “Why don’t you ask me questions like a media person that when will the work be done?”
Meanwhile, the audience including the villagers endorse Rana’s allegations and agreed that no work, which was promised, was done.
Continuing with her response, Devi says, “I immediately recognised your gaze since I have been watching you. I recognised what you’re doing. What you have said is correct. But the time has still not run out.”
According to the FIR, reported by Quint, Rana was charged with Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) under the Indian Penal code. The FIR also accused Rana of abusing people there and threatening them.
Reiterating the accusation, Devi told reporters that Rana "slapped a few party workers and was troubling the villagers".
“This is not an unprecedented incident. Several local journalists are being arrested every day across Uttar Pradesh for speaking up against the BJP government. This is perhaps one example that has been reported,” Samajwadi Party (SP) national spokesperson Abbas Haider tells Outlook.
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Commenting on the incident, Haider outlines that it’s a narrative which is being created by the government that “whoever dares to speak up or speak the truth, shall face the brunt of it”.
“It’s an abuse of power and it is given there is no press freedom in Uttar Pradesh,” he says.
In another consecutive video, Rana is seen standing by his actions and statement. While he has been accused of misbehaving on stage, he says he took due permission from the concerned authority to speak to Devi and apprise her of the troubles being faced by the people in the area.
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“I have not done anything wrong,” he said. “If someone is making false statements about the work they have done, shouldn’t you question it?” he says in the video.
In a strong response, the SP media cell took to Twitter and stated in Hindi, “Ground reporter Sanjay Rana in Sambhal asked Gulab Devi, a minister in the BJP government, questions on the issue of development, then the minister put the journalist in jail. If this is not an undeclared emergency and dictatorship in the BJP government, then what else is it? BJP only wants sycophancy journalism, it is forbidden to ask questions?”
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The journalist was later reportedly granted bail.
