The Editors Guild on India on Tuesday said that it is disturbed by the registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) by the Manipur Police against the president of the Guild as well as the members of the fact-finding team that had visited Manipur to study and document media’s coverage of ethnic clashes in the state.
A release by the Executive Committee, Editors Guild of India, also stated that the Guild is further shocked by the intimidatory statements made by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, in response to the report.
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The EGI stated that the Guild had received several representations from civil society as well as the Indian Army raising concerns that the media in Manipur was playing a partisan role in the ongoing ethnic conflict between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Chin minority.
The Guild had sent a three-member team to Manipur to examine the media’s reportage in the state as well as the effects of internet shutdown, the executive committee of the EGI stated, adding that the team met a cross-section of reporters, editors, representatives of Editors Guild of Manipur, AMWJU, civil society activists, public intellectuals, women affected by the violence, tribal spokespersons and the representatives of the security forces operating in Manipur.
“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 EGI said, adding that the Guild has also acknowledged and corrected an error that was pointed out regarding a photo caption.
“…we remain open to further discussion,” the Guild said.
The Guild also expressed their dissent to CM Biren labelling the EGI as “anti-state” and “anti-national”, terming it “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”.
The Guild would also like to reiterate that the underlying idea of the report was to enable introspection and reflection on the media’s conduct in such a sensitive situation, the EGI said and urged the state government to close the FIRs.
