EDITOR’S GUILD’S FULL STATEMENT
Below is the full statement issued by the association on Sunday regarding Mukhim.
The Publishers Guild of India is deeply concerned to see Patricia Mukhim, awardee of Padma Shri and editor of the Shillong Times, being dragged through a cumbersome criminal prosecution procedure stemming from a complaint in one of her social media posts. social. The criminal complaint was filed in response to his Facebook post in July 2020 about a skirmish between tribal and non-tribal youth in Lawsohtun on a basketball court. Mukhim’s case is a reflection of the biggest threats to freedom of expression in India, operating under an unwieldy framework of laws that are often used indiscriminately by government and law enforcement agencies to muzzle dissent. .
In his post, Mukhim claimed that continued attacks against non-tribals had gone unpunished, which had turned Meghalaya into a failed state. The Dorbar Shnong (a Khasi tribal institution) perceived this as a divisive comment and filed a complaint with the police, which recorded a criminal case under sections 153A / 500 / 505C IPC (offenses promoting discord and enmity between different groups, as well as criminal defamation) and asked him to appear before the investigator. In his effort to seek a legal remedy against the FIR, Mukhim went to the Meghalaya High Court, but on November 10 the court refused to quash the criminal proceedings.
Mukhim’s case is an example of how multiple legal provisions can be used against freedom of expression and therefore against freedom of the press. Various provisions in multiple laws give government agencies and law enforcement authorities a check to bring criminal cases against journalists in which the criminal complaint procedure itself becomes a harsh punishment and acts as a deterrent against journalists. exercise of freedom of expression. The main responsibility of the media is to question government affairs and report information, however harsh and disturbing it may be. They cannot be held responsible for passing on information that may highlight the details of failures within society, or for that matter, mismanagement and corruption in government affairs.
The Publishers Guild of India stresses the need for the higher judiciary to become aware of these crucial issues impeding freedom of expression and to issue guidelines to ensure that the rampant use of the law does not deter a free press.
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