'Reeks of Vindictiveness': Press Body Demands Withdrawal of FIR Against Anandabazar Patrika Journalists

Kolkata: The Federation of Press Clubs has demanded that the West Bengal government withdraw the criminal case registered against the journalists of Anandabazar Patrika over a front-page headline wherein the newspaper has used the phrase "saffron hooliganism". This is the first response from a national press body since the FIR was registered on Friday (August 28).

In a statement issued from New Delhi on Sunday (August 30), the federation, which describes itself as a collective of eight press clubs across the country, said the case should be withdrawn forthwith and condemned its registration “in the strongest possible terms”.

“From the sequence of events, it is apparent that the West Bengal government does not want journalists, newspapers, and the media to speak freely and is attempting to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation against them by misusing the coercive executive powers of the State,” the statement said.

The statement called the grounds frivolous and said that the FIR violated Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression. Invoking Sections 196 and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, each carrying a three-year term, amounted to “a clear attempt to strangle press freedom”, it said.

The statement ended by measuring the case against the government's own undertaking.

“Filing such FIRs reeks of vindictiveness against journalists and is certainly not a case of good governance that the Suvendu Adhikari government has promised.”

The statement is signed by Gautam Lahiri, the federation’s president, and Saurabh Duggal, its secretary.

The newspaper carried front page reports on the Jadavpur University clashes across two editions under two different headlines. One read “Gerua gundami (saffron hooliganism). The other read “Pratik bhenge gerua gundami (saffron hooliganism breaks emblem). The FIR and the complaint that preceded it refer to the first.

The emblem in question is the one on the university’s gate, designed by the artist Nandalal Bose. The federation describes the events of 21 August as vandalism and arson, allegedly carried out by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Bowbazar police station registered the FIR at 2.30 pm on Friday, on the basis of a written complaint received the previous day from Sanjay Shastri Maharaj, who has been described in the FIR as a saffron clad Hindu monk. It names the editor editor Ishani Dutta Roy, chief reporter Soma Mukherjee and, as a third accused, the unnamed remainder of the daily’s editorial team.

The FIR has been registered under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The section is the common intention provision, which is what allows an unidentified group of colleagues to be carried into the case.

Earlier, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had attacked the newspaper over the phrase "saffron hooligan" at a televised media conclave before the complaint was filed. At a rally in Jadavpur on Friday he demanded an apology and said thousands of saffron clad sadhus were ready to act and were waiting only for his consent. The paper published those remarks on its front page the following morning.

Anandabazar Patrika has issued no apology, correction or retraction. A person at the ABP group, contacted for this story, declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

Neither the state government nor Kolkata Police had responded to the federation’s statement at the time of writing.

Separately on Sunday, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee wrote to Kolkata's Police Commissioner, Ajay Nanda, asking him to intervene against what it called incitement to attack the newspaper. The letter, signed by state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar, said "a section of the BJP led social media fanatics" had begun abusing Anandabazar Patrika, and described the campaign as verbal attacks carrying "ulterior intentions to create a violent atmosphere while trying to threaten press and media".

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