India: The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) demands dropping UAPA charges against a journalist; CFWIJ stands in solidarity
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November 10, 2021, Tripura- The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) has criticized the action of the Tripura Police and demanded that the UAPA charges against Shyam Meera Singh be dropped. Singh was booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after he tweeted about the violence underway in the state of Tripura at the behest of right-wing Hindu extremists.
IWPC strongly criticized the actions of the state police claiming that these charges against critics and journalists is an attempt to “intimidate and silence” the media, going on to add that the organization was “shocked and dismayed” at the charges filed against Singh.
“Singh has alleged that he has been booked for tweeting, ‘Tripura is burning’. It is a journalist’s job to inform, to highlight and present the true picture of events. It is not the journalist’s job to please people in power,” the journalist body said. Singh is only one of the 102 people booked under the act for criticizing what is happening in the state on social media.
In response Tripura police got in touch with the administration at Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to explain why their platforms were being used to hunt down dissident voices in the country. To Twitter, the police wrote, “Some persons/organizations are publishing/posting distorted and objectionable news items/statements in Twitter regarding the recent clash and alleged attack upon mosques of Muslim communities in the state. In publishing these news items/ posts, the persons/organizations have been found using photographs/videos of some other incidents, fabricated statements/commentary for promoting enmity between religious groups/communities in presence of a criminal conspiracy,”
Critics agree that this is an attempt to underplay the violence that is being inflicted on the religious minorities in the region, by terming the events as a riot instead of recognizing it as what it is - majoritarian aggression.
The cases against the social media account holders were registered at the same West Agartala police station under IPC sections 153A (promoting disharmony or feelings of enemity), 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 469 (forgery), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine a forged document), 503 (threatening), 504 (intentional insult) and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) to condemn the actions of the Tripura police. Women journalists know, perhaps better than anyone, what institutional overreach at a time of violent chaos can mean for the freedom of press in the country. Since women journalists are targeted for their professions while existing as a gender minority, their solidarity to the cause comes about as mobilization of the democratic and feminist ethic in politics. The police should be immediately be reigned back in by the authorities and the charges should immediately be dropped if India wants to protect its secular and democratic values it is so proud of.
