NEW DELHI: Several senior Indian journalists are facing charges of sedition over their reporting and online posts about a protest by farmers last week, sparking criticism of the legal action from media associations.
The cases have been filed with police in at least five states against the journalists including Rajdeep Sardesai, a prominent anchor on the India Today television channel, and Vinod Jose, executive editor of the Caravan magazine.
The cases, filed by residents of the states, allege that the journalists provoked violence during protests by farmers at New Delhi's Red Fort on Jan. 26 through incorrect posts on Twitter and reports that police had killed a protester.
Tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on the outskirts of the capital for more than two months, demanding the withdrawal of new agricultural laws that they say benefit private buyers at the expense of growers.
The government of Prime Minster Narendra Modi says reform of the agriculture sector will bring opportunities for farmers. The protests turned violent on Jan. 26, when farmers broke into the historic Red Fort complex, with one protester killed and hundreds injured.
At the time, a witness told Reuters the protester was killed when the tractor he was driving overturned and crushed him but there was also talk he had been shot. Police, who had fired tear gas on the day, denied shooting him. "The accused tried to provoke the protesters for their political and personal gains by spreading false and misleading information online," one complaint filed in Uttar Pradesh state said, echoing the language of the other filings. Jose said his journalists on the ground heard from a witness and a relative of the dead man that he had been shot. "This is an attack on free and independent reporting ... Government wants only its official version to be published," he said in a statement.
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