Uttar Pradesh Journalists Hold "Jal Satyagraha" To Protest Against Harassment By District Administration

Protesting against the alleged harassment by the local administration, about a dozen journalists in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur plunged into the Ganga on June 7 for a "jal (water) satyagraha". The scribes were protesting against the district administration, which had registered an FIR against a journalist under Sections 188, 269, 270, 120-B, 385, 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

Earlier, two journalists - Ajay Bhadauria and Vivek Mishra - were booked for their critical news reports.

While Mishra was booked for reporting on malfunctioning cowsheds in Fatehpur, Bhadauria had tweeted about a community kitchen in Vijaypur closing down.

They raised slogans against the administration, demanding that the government withdraw the cases filed against the journalists. They also demanded that an enquiry is conducted against the accused, Fatehpur District Magistrate Sanjeev Singh.

"This district magistrate is no less than a dictator; from insulting journalists in public to lodging an FIR for exposing the failure of administration. He is doing whatever comes to mind," Bhadauria told the media.

A press note released by the district magistrate said that Bhadauria "is not associated with any print or electronic media in the year 2020. Bhadauria has constantly used his personal Twitter account to defame the administration by tweeting one-sided rumours."

"This fight will stay alive as long as Sanjeev Kumar Singh isn't transferred out and investigation conducted of his abuse of power," Bhadauria says in the video. Bhadauria has been a journalist for 32 years now, NewsClick reported.

Sadhana news journalist Siddhartha Murya, who was booked on the orders of Mau District Magistrate Gyan Prakash Tripathi in April, alleged that the district magistrate called them for a press conference and by the time they reached home, they received a call from the police station informing them about an FIR lodged against him and eight other journalists for violating the lockdown orders.

"I think the intention behind this step is that the administration or the government does not want to take the questions and gets irked when their accountability is questioned. Surprisingly, the local police station officer had told me that the FIR was lodged on the orders of DM and SSP but the RTI reply I got says I was standing at a paan shop, which is not true. In another reply, it was said that DM personally gave an oral order to register the FIR. We have stopped attending his press conferences and we need justice," said Murya.

All the nine journalists have written a joint letter to the President of India, urging him to intervene in the matter.

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