UP: FIR against news portal, its two journalists over documentary on mosque demolition
Barabanki (UP): The Uttar Pradesh Police has filed an FIR against news portal 'The Wire', its two journalists and two others over a documentary on the demolition of a mosque here which, the administration said, was built illegally.
The case has been registered against journalists Siraj Ali and Mukul S Chauhan, and two others -- Mohammad Anees and Mohammad Naeem -- who gave "provocative" statements in the documentary that spread "prejudiced, misleading and untrue" information, police said on Friday.
The Barabanki administration had demolished the mosque on May 17, terming it an illegally constructed building and attributed its claim to an April 2 order of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. The mosque was located adjacent to the tehsil premises and opposite the SDM's residence.
A video related to the Ramsanehi Ghat tehsil complex was shared by news portal 'The Wire' on its Twitter handle on June 23 in which "baseless" claims have been made, Superintendent of Police Yamuna Prasad said.
"A case has been registered against The Wire on Thursday night on charges of spreading enmity and religious frenzy by broadcasting sensational, prejudiced, misleading and untrue things and making a malicious attempt to spoil communal amity. Instructions have been issued to initiate action," he said.
In-charge of Kotwali police station Sachchidanand Rai said investigations are underway to find out who else was involved in "making provocative statements and spreading false information".
The news portal has termed the police's charges "baseless", and accused the Uttar Pradesh government of "criminalising the work of journalists who are reporting what is happening in the state".
"This is the fourth FIR filed by the UP Police in the past 14 months against The Wire and/or its journalists and each of these cases is baseless. The Adityanath government does not believe in media freedom and is criminalising the work of journalists who are reporting what is happening in the state," said The Wire's founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan in a statement on Thursday.
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If Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough: Gavaskar
Sydney, Jan 4: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels India will struggle to defend even 200 in case premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is unable to bowl at full throttle on the third day of the fifth and final Test against Australia here on Sunday.
Bumrah had left the field for scans during the second day's post-lunch session after bowling just one over, having experienced some discomfort. However, he returned to the dressing room after undergoing precautionary scans for an unspecified niggle.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna said his skipper had suffered back spasm.
The medical team was monitoring him as India ended the day 145 runs in front with four second innings wickets left on a SCG track which is aiding the bowlers.
"Look, if India scores 40 more runs or they put 185 on the board then they have a great chance but it all depends on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit then 145-150 might be enough. But if Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough," said Gavaskar on Star Sports on Saturday.
Gavaskar also said maintaining secrecy around Bumrah's status is not going to help the Australians, who have so far struggled to counter the threat posed by the Indian pace spearhead.
"One thing that I liked was when he came back after the scan, obviously it took a lot of time because the hospital is a bit far, but he looked in good shape and his body language was such that there was no indication of the Australian team and it is very important to maintain the secrecy.
"Because, tactically you do not want to announce whether Bumrah will be available for bowling or not, and even if he is not available and this news goes across the opposition dressing room because till now Australian batsmen haven't found out a way to counter him, they don’t know whether they should attack, defend, or whether they should play on front-foot.
"So to execute this plan it is important to maintain secrecy, so Bumrah and the Indian team management managed it quite well," Gavaskar said.
The pacer has already taken 32 wickets in the series, and had figures of 2/33 in 10 overs before leaving the field, having removed Marnus Labuschagne in the morning session and Usman Khawaja on the last ball of the first evening.
