Online media portal The Wire has condemned the registration of a criminal case against it by the Uttar Pradesh police over a report about an attack on an elderly Muslim man called Abdul Samad Saifi. The Wire has put out a statement saying that the news story was based on accurate and truthful reports of what the victim of the crime 'has himself said about the incident'. The First Information Report (FIR) filed by the UP police is 'an attempt to criminalise the reporting of anything other than the official version of events’, said the statement.
"The Wire condemns the registration of a criminal case by the UP Police over a news story and tweet based on accurate and truthful reports, by many media organisations, of what the victim of the crime has himself said about the incident. The FIR is an attempt to criminalise the reporting of anything other than the official version of events,” the statement said.
It was on June 14 that the story was reported by The Wire as well as other media organisations like Alt News and journalists Zubair Ahmed, Rana Ayyub and Saba Naqvi. Abdul Samad Saifi himself described the incident in a video uploaded by Maktoob, a media initiative. He could be heard saying that his beard was cut and he was forced to say Jai Shri Ram.
The Wire also tweeted a link to its story on June 14 evening.
The next day, the UP police registered an FIR against The Wire, Twitter and six individuals for their tweets on the incident.
Police however ruled out any communal angle in the incident saying Sufi Abdul Samad was attacked by six men - Hindus and Muslims - who were unhappy over the amulets he had sold them.
The case against The Wire and others has been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code including section 504 (intentional insult).
The Wire has pointed out that the UP police seem to have concluded that there is no element of communal hatred on the basis that the attackers included Muslims. "However, UP police claim that the attackers include Muslims and have concluded, on this basis, that there was no element of communal hatred. It has also decided that those who reported Saifi’s account are themselves guilty of a criminal conspiracy to spread communal hatred,” the statement added.
(With PTI input)