HRD and Journalists

Chhattisgarh

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on 8th November 2021 regarding the intimidation of journalists by ruling party MLAs and politicians in a bid to stop them from reportage and to muzzle free speech in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress workers’ conference was held at Jaspur on October 24, 2021, where two factions of the party started fighting with each other. The entire incident was recorded and shared on social media. 

District Congress Committee President Mr Manoj Sagar Yadav registered a complaint on his own letterhead against the journalists on October 26, 2021. In the complaint, he demanded that the police should lodge FIRs against all the journalists, YouTubers and news media outlets including news portals, web portals and social media users, accusing them of intentionally ruining and denigrating the image of the chief minister and state government and trying to create social disturbances and enmity between the groups.

The party conference in Jashpur was a public event and journalists had been invited to records the proceeding of the events whereas the matter raised by the signatories in the letter pertained to biased reporting which should have been considered by the Press Council of India instead of acting against the letter to seek by the punitive action including the FIRs registrations and arresting to the Journalists and the social media. Such punitive action against media is in complete violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under article 19(A) of the Indian Constitution.