The Editors Guild of India’s (EGI) visit to Manipur, followed by lodging of an FIR against them for publishing a report detailing the ground situation, exposes the Manipur government. It shows that the government is not ready to accept the harsh reality and continues to act in a biased manner. The FIRs have accused EGI President Seema Mustafa, Sanjay Kapoor, Seema Guha and Bharat Bhushan of offences under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including defamation, defiling places of worship, criminal conspiracy, etc. The complaints, based on which the FIRs were registered, accused the EGI report of “incorrect and false statements.” The EGI maintains that its report was prepared by the fact-finding team after extensive travelling and interviews with victims and eyewitnesses between 7 and 10 August.
The Supreme Court has given protection to the EGI members and prevented their arrests. The guild’s report had alleged that there was a bias in the local Manipur media outlets. The Imphal-based media is accused of being pro-Meitei and running an agenda against the minority Kuki tribe. Earlier, in July, the armed forces had made similar observations about the biases of Imphal-based media groups. A letter signed by Colonel Anurag Pandey of the information warfare wing for the general officer commanding pointed out that the “bias of the media in favour of one community and against the other community emerges clearly.” The letter cited three examples of this bias and said that Imphal-based media’s “outright misrepresentation of facts” may be a major reason behind the violence. Instead of resorting to threatening the EGI, the Imphal-based media should introspect and start reporting truth and facts. If they report the truth, nobody will question their integrity.