Press freedom concerns as India editors’ body charged over Manipur report

Police in India’s Manipur state have filed two cases against members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI), accusing them of trying to incite more unrest in the northeastern state, where deadly ethnic violence has simmered since May.

Police in India’s Manipur state have filed two cases against members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI), accusing them of trying to incite more unrest in the northeastern state, where deadly ethnic violence has simmered since May.

The cases, also known as first information reports (FIRs), filed in two separate police stations on Sunday came a day after the country’s top editors body issued a report condemning the local media’s “one-sided” reporting of the months-long violence in the remote state.

The FIRs, filed based on complaints by two individuals in the state capital Imphal, names the EGI office bearers – Bharat Bhushan, Sanjay Kapoor, Seema Guha and the press body’s president, Seema Mustafa – accusing them of promoting enmity between different groups, defamation and criminal conspiracy among other charges under the Indian Penal Code.

More than 150 people have been killed in the months-long violence between the majority Meitei community – who are predominantly Hindu – and the Kuki-Zo tribes – who are mainly Christian – with rights groups raising alarm over the role of the state government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).