The DIGIPUB News India Foundation has condemned the booking of 102 people including journalists under the coercive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by Tripura Police.
The Tripura Police has booked 102 people under the UAPA for reporting on the recent events of communal violence in the state.
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The Tripura state police slapped UAPA charges against some Delhi-based lawyers for conducting an independent fact-finding enquiry into these incidents.
An FIR has been filed against Shyam Meera Singh, a journalist and a social media user, wherein his tweet said ‘Tripura is burning’.
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The Tripura government has used UAPA based on a tweet of three words.
“Charges against several journalists have been filed under the UAPA for merely tweeting about the communal violence in the state. Tripura police have asked Twitter to suspend these accounts as they claim they have the potential to incite communal riots,” DIGIPUB News India Foundation said in a statement.
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“It does not bode well when, in a society, hate speech and active calls to violence go unpunished, or are rewarded politically, while journalists reporting to ensure a well-informed citizenry are victimised and slapped with oppressive laws,” the statement said.
In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is “unjustifiable that such stringent laws are being used as tools against journalists”, who have been accorded the role of playing watchdog against the misuse of the institutions of the state, the organisation said.
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DIGIPUB said it hopes the Supreme Court of India will look into the matter and other such assaults on freedom of the press, “so our democracy and its institutions remain robust and just”.