That the UP government sent policemen driving across 700 kilometres during the national lockdown to issue this summons when the postal system is still operational speaks volumes for its priorities. The FIRs were followed up with a gross display of intimidation on April 10 when policemen arrived in a black SUV with no numberplates at Varadarajan’s residence in Delhi to issue a legal notice ordering him to appear in Ayodhya on April 14 at 10 am. A plain reading of the sections invoked in the FIRs (given below) makes it clear they cannot possibly apply to the article in question. Two FIRs were filed under various sections of the law on April 1, one on a complaint by a resident of Ayodhya and the other on the basis of a complaint by the SHO of the Kotwali Nagar police station, Faizabad. Towards the end, the impugned article merely pointed out that “Indian believers” more generally have been late to adopt precautions and avoid congregation, recalling UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s plans, as late as March 18, to proceed with a religious fair at Ayodhya and his flouting of the national lockdown and social distancing norms by taking part in a religious ceremony along with others on March 25.
The target of this action is a factual story on the Tablighi Jamaat and its exposure to Covid-19.
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This attack on media freedom, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, endangers not just free speech, but the public’s right to information. We, the undersigned, are shocked at the action of the UP police under Yogi Adityanath in filing criminal charges against The Wire and against one of its founding editors, Siddharth Varadarajan.
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