FIR against 6 Varanasi journos for 'rumour-mongering'; attack on press freedom: Congress

Varanasi: Police in Varanasi have filed an FIR against six journalists on charges of inciting unrest and spreading misinformation through social media posts, officials said on Friday.

The complaint, registered at the Lanka police station, alleges that the journalists shared a video of a statue being cleaned and used it to incite communal sentiment. The action has triggered a political backlash, with the Congress condemning it as an attack on the freedom of the press.

According to Lanka Station House Officer (SHO) Shivakant Mishra, two employees of the Public Works Department (PWD) were cleaning the statue of Bharat Ratna Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya located near the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) gate on the night of June 25.

Mishra said a video of the cleaning process was recorded and shared online by some journalists, who allegedly used caste-based commentary to provoke hatred and disrupt law and order.

The FIR was filed based on a complaint by the Sankat Mochan police outpost in-charge. The accused include Arshad (admin of 'Khabar Banaras'), Abhishek Jha, Abhishek Tripathi, Sonu Singh, Shailesh and an X (formerly Twitter) user Nitin Rai. They have been booked under Sections 356(3) (publication of defamatory material), 196(1) (promoting enmity between different groups) and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act.

The journalists have denied any wrongdoing, stating that their job is to highlight developments, good or bad, for the administration to take note of. "If something wrong happens in the city, it is our responsibility to report it," one of the accused said.

Reacting sharply, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai issued a statement condemning the FIR. "Filing a case against journalists for questioning a viral video of someone climbing Malaviya Ji's statue is deeply unfortunate. The BJP government won't act against the guilty, but those who raise questions will be treated as criminals," Rai said.

Calling the move cowardly, Rai added, "This government cannot tolerate a mirror being shown to its face. That is why it is punishing those who speak the truth. But the Congress will not tolerate the humiliation of journalists." He demanded that the "real culprits" be punished and the "false cases" against journalists be withdrawn immediately, affirming that the Congress stands firmly with the media.

BJP MLC and former journalist Dharmendra Singh offered a more cautious view. "Journalism is a sensitive profession. Journalists must maintain their dignity and avoid haste in reporting. But if the journalists' rights are at stake, I will stand with them," he said.