'On Wednesday, April 1, the Uttar Pradesh Police in Faizabad registered an FIR against The Wire on the complaint of an individual under Sections 188 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 188 refers to disobedience of an order issued by a public servant and 505 (2) to “statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes”. The FIR cites a passage without mentioning the date or headline of the article it is drawn from... The founding editors of The Wire have issued a statement in response to the FIR, which is appended below...'
'The plight of poor migrant workers of India’s most populous state -- Uttar Pradesh – has no parallel. They were compelled to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach their hometowns after losing livelihood and suspension of transport services. To add to their woes, arbitrary fares were demanded by those offered bus services. Also, bus drivers harassed them, asking them to show their Aadhaar cards, and also deboarded some of them in the middle of highways.
'A case that reeks of brazen abuse of power at a time when citizens are hard pressed to place full faith on the state machinery to contain the coronavirus pandemic has come to light in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh police arrested Dr. Ashish Mittal on March 23, 2020. At the time, chief minister Adityanath had already imposed a lockdown.
'A district court lawyer in Kanpur was arrested on the charge of sedtion for retweeting a video of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and calling him a terrorist on Sunday. The man, Abdul Hannan, commented on a tweet by State Information Department’s Media Advisor Shalabh Mani Tripathi on Saturday. The tweet by Tripathi had a video of Adityanath’s Vidhan Sabha speech supporting cane charge on people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC)...'
'In an apparent bid to avoid a 'Hindu' backlash, especially, when the next assembly polls in the state are due in two years times, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has given a go-ahead for the 'Ram Navami Mela' in Ayodhya dismissing concerns against its own advisories against large gatherings in view of the Coronavirus outbreak. According to some estimates, around one million devotees from across the country would be congregating in Ayodhya to take part in the 'Mela, which would be held from March 25 to April Two...'
'Indians seeking clarity from the government on the causes, responses, and aftermath of the riots in north-east Delhi, in which 53 people died and over 500 injured, would have been confused by Home Minister Amit Shah’s explanations in the Lok Sabha on March 11. Mr Shah’s 50-minute speech can be best described as a model of mendacity. It apportioned the blame on everyone but his ministry and the Delhi police, which report to him. According to his version, the riots were pre-planned, financed, and mobilised externally (by implication the Muslim community) and the police were ...'
'Going against their own advice, Karnataka ruling party BJP's top leaders took part in a massive gathering for BJP leader Mahantesh Kavatagimath's daughter's wedding. The wedding took place on Sunday in Shagun gardens in the Udyambagh industrial area in Belagavi district. Among the eminent guests at the wedding were Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai... The wedding was held in an open lawn under a canopy. The Karnataka MLC's daughter's wedding saw close to 2000 people, reports suggest. Visuals show people thronging at the wedding.
'On Saturday, Congress party worker Sudhanshu Bajpai and his friend Ashwani Yadav were arrested from Bajpai’s residence in Lucknow, for putting up a poster outside the Bharatiya Janata Party’s city office. The poster, with large photographs of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, lists the “criminal records” of Adityanath, Prasad and five other BJP leaders – Sangeet Som, Suresh Rana, Sanjeev Balyan, Sadhvi Prachi and Umesh Malik...'
'Speaking in the Upper House of India’s Parliament on Thursday on the recent communal violence in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah segued briefly into a topic that has gripped the country over the past year: Indian citizenship. Measures such as the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens have pushed the concept of Indian citizenship and the role of religion in it to the centre of Indian politics.
'The Allahabad High Court did something on Monday that was completely unusual. It not only delivered a judgment that was critical of the majoritarian government that rules in Uttar Pradesh, it did so after taking “suo moto” action – meaning the court did not wait for someone to even file a petition. The court had seen the Uttar Pradesh government putting up banners in several parts of Lucknow on which were displayed the photographs, names and addresses of people involved in the protests against the Citizenship Act amendment...'
