Uttar Pradesh Police said on Thursday that they have registered an FIR against leftist portal The Wire and three of its journalists for publishing propaganda regarding the Barabanki Mosque demolition case. The three journalists are Seraj Ali, Mohammad Anees and Mukul S Chauhan.
As it turns out, at least two of them are students of the Jamia Milia Islamia University. Seraj Ali studied at the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at the Jamia Milia Islamia University. The information was available on his Facebook account.
Another of the accused, Mukul S Chauhan, studies Bachelor of Journalism at the University as per his Facebook profile.
In recent times, the University has been mired in a host of controversies. During the protests against the Citizenship Amendment, the Jamia Milia Islamia campus became the hub of violence, forcing the Delhi Police to enter its premises to flush out rioters.
Ladeeda Farzana and Aysha Renna, who became the face of the Jamia protests, were found to be Islamist bigots. One of them called India ‘fascist’ for executing Mumbai blast terrorist Yakub Menon and another gave a call for Jihad.
Barabanki Police files FIR against The Wire
The case was filed under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 505 (1) (b) (intent to cause or likely to cause fear or alarm among the public), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
In The Wire video documentary dated 23rd June, the portal had claimed that the district administration had illegally demolished the 100-year-old mosque in the city. The Wire had interviewed a few Muslims, who claimed that they were the members of the mosque’s committee. They had proceeded to claim that the members had proof that the structure was legal.
In its documentary, the Wire had stated that the Muslims in the area had protested against the demolition of the mosque and stated that the police officials had quelled by resorting to a lathi charge. The Wire had claimed that the Barabanki police specifically targeted the Muslim community and had thrown away their religious scriptures into the drain.
Refuting such allegations made by the Wire, the Barabanki police clarified that the claims made by The Wire were false. It further stated that The Wire was trying to stoke communal violence by propagating misinformation about the demolition of the illegal mosque at the site.