Farmers Movement Archive

'Atmosphere of fear is like poison for democracy': Priyanka Gandhi on FIR against 7 including Tharoor, journalists

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday launched a fresh attack against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the first information report (FIR) filed against seven people, including journalists and politicians. Gandhi was referring to the FIR filed by Gurugram Police against seven people, including Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, for allegedly “misreporting” and “spreading disharmony” during the clashes between the police and the protesting farmers on Republic Day. The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint by a resident of Jharasa district in Haryana who accused the Tharoor, Sardesai and five other journalists of spreading "false and misleading information.""The practice by the BJP government to threaten journalists and public representatives through FIRs is dangerous. Respect for democracy is not the will of the government but its responsibility. The atmosphere of fear is like poison for democracy," Gandhi tweeted. "The BJP government has destroyed the dignity of democracy by lodging the FIR to intimidate senior journalists and public representatives," she said in another tweet.Police have filed the case under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 124A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complaint was registered at the Cyber police station of Gurugram. Earlier, Noida Police had also registered an FIR on the same set of people and on similar allegations.Tens of thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana are protesting against the new farm laws at several Delhi borders. The protests derailed on January 26 when farmers who were carrying out tractor rallies barged inside the Red Fort and hoisted their own flag at its ramparts. During the rally, agitating farmers also broke barricades and vandalised public property as they clashed with the police. One farmer was killed and nearly 400 police personnel were injured during the violence.They are agitating against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Hindustan Times

30-01-2021

India