Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday described as “shameful” the Uttar Pradesh police FIR against a journalist on charges of misreporting the poverty of a Dalit woman in a village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
Ms. Vadra said the police could not cover up the truth by registering FIRs and added that there were several deficiencies on the ground during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A correction is possible if the truth is shown but U.P. government is filing FIRs against journalists, former officials and the Opposition for bringing out the truth,” she said on Twitter.
A Delhi-based journalist Supriya Sharma working for news portal Scroll.in was booked under various charges, including the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Act, on June 13 for allegedly misreporting the poverty of a Dalit woman in village Domari, adopted by the Prime Minister.
The chief editor of Scroll.in was also named in the FIR. Sections 269 and 501 (printing matter that is defamatory) of the IPC were invoked, along with relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.
Ms. Sharma was booked in connection with a piece published on June 8 titled, ‘In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Modi, people went hungry during the lockdown.’ A Dalit woman interviewed by her in her piece told the police in a complaint that Ms. Sharma had allegedly mocked her caste and poverty by misrepresenting her financial situation during the lockdown.
