Indian police in Manipur state have pressed criminal charges against four journalists, accusing them of distorting facts in their report on violent clashes between two ethnic groups earlier this year.
These four senior journalists were commissioned by the Editors Guild of India to produce a report assessing the media’s coverage of the state’s violence. The report, released this month, suggested that “there are clear indications that the leadership of the state became partisan during the conflict.”
Manipur’s Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh, accused the journalists on Monday of attempting to “provoke clashes” with their report.
The journalists in question—Seema Mustafa, who is the president of the Editors Guild, Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan, and Sanjay Kapoor—could not be reached immediately for comment, and the guild did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment.
The Press Club of India, based in New Delhi, called for the withdrawal of charges, describing this as a “strong-arm tactic by the state government” amounting to intimidation against the country’s apex media body.
Deadly ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May, resulting in at least 180 casualties. The clashes were between the majority Meitei ethnic group and the minority Kuki community, primarily over the distribution of economic benefits and quotas. Meiteis make up half of Manipur’s 3.2 million population, and extending affirmative action quotas to them would grant them access to education and government jobs previously reserved for Kukis and Nagas.
Federal forces were deployed to suppress the unrest, which led tens of thousands to flee into neighboring states or refugee camps.
The journalists’ report indicated that an internet shutdown, ordered in the state governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), contributed to biased reporting by local media aligned with warring ethnic groups. Some local media organizations rejected this allegation.
India has slipped 11 places to rank 161st in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by the non-profit group Reporters Without Borders this year. However, Modi’s government maintains that India has a vibrant free press.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern this week regarding reports of human rights violations in Manipur, characterizing them as tragic developments in a deteriorating situation for religious and ethnic minorities in India. This statement comes ahead of a G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi, beginning on Saturday.
