The Editors Guild of India, among other non-government bodies, condemned the Uttar Pradesh government’s action of filing an FIR against journalist Pawan Jaiswal for his report that mere rotis and salt were being served to school children as their lawfully guaranteed mid-day meal in Siyur primary school, Mirzapur.
The Editors Guild of India has issued a statement pic.twitter.com/F3q4WAlphn
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) September 2, 2019
"It is a cruel and classic case of shooting the messenger. It is precisely exposés such as these that show how valuable free and fearless journalists are to a democratic society. It is shocking that instead of taking action to fix what is wrong on the ground, the government has filed criminal cases against the journalist. Even if the government believes that his report is wrong, there are easy and conventional redresses available. Using the IPC and police is no way to respond to this," the guild claimed.
The video of students of the being served salt and roti in their midday meal had gone viral on social media on August 22, triggering widespread outrage and leading to the suspension of two teachers. The police had later lodged a case against the journalist and a village head representative. The Samajwadi Party termed the filing of the FIR as an attack on "free and fearless journalism", with president Akhilesh Yadav saying the everyone should unite for the freedom of expression.
The complaint stated that the village head's representative, Rajkumar Pal, was aware that only rotis were cooked and vegetable was not cooked in the Siyur Primary School in Jamalpur block of Mirzapur district.
-Inputs from PTI
