YouTube news channel booked by UP police over mob lynching report
Media bodies condemn FIR against journalists
Kolkata: In a development highlighting concerns over press freedom in Modi’s India, the Uttar Pradesh Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) against a YouTube news channel for reporting that a Muslim man was lynched by a Hindutva mob in the state’s Shamli district.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the YouTube-based news channel ‘Hindustani Media’, run by journalist Sadaf Hussain, had posted a video saying that a Muslim man, Firoz Qureshi, was beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of theft in the Jalalabad town of Shamli district. The report was based on the complaints raised by the family members of the deceased. The channel has more than three lakh subscribers.
This FIR marks the second instance where journalists and media organizations have faced legal action in connection with their reporting on mob violence in the BJP-ruled state.
The FIR filed against the Hindustani Media quoted a complainant as saying that the channel had published a video presenting wrong information and made allegations of mob lynching, which had the potential to provoke communal disharmony. Earlier, the UP Police booked two journalists, Zakir Ali Tyagi and Wasim Akram Tyagi, and three others for stating on social media that Qureshi had been lynched by a mob. The others are Asif Rana, Saif Allahbadi and Ahmad Raza Khan.
The police action has drawn widespread condemnation from press bodies, opposition MPs, and activists. Asaduddin Owaisi, MP and AIMIM chief, criticized the move, highlighting concerns about misuse of criminal laws to silence truth-tellers. Opposition voices, including RJD MP Manoj Jha, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the pattern of targeting journalists and ignoring the underlying issues of communal violence.
Various press associations, including Digipub News India Foundation, Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, and Cogito Media Foundation, have vehemently condemned the FIRs against journalists, calling for their immediate withdrawal.
