Tripura: On Sunday, the Tripura Police filed a first information report against 2 journalists who were reporting the state’s recent sectarian unrest. Right-wing group Kanchan Das submitted the initial information report at the Fatikroy police station. While visiting members from the Muslim community in the Paul Bazaar area, he said that Sammriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha delivered an “instigating speech” against the Hindu community and the Tripura government. The journalists, according to Das, blamed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal for torching a mosque in Paul Bazaar.
The journalists, according to the complainant, were involved in a criminal conspiracy to disrupt Tripura’s communal harmony and discredit the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Tripura administration. Tensions have been high in Tripura since a mosque and several stores were attacked during a Vishwa Hindu Parishad protest on October 26th in the Panisagar sub-division. The Hindutva movement was denouncing attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, which is a neighbouring country.
Journalist Samriddhi K Sakunia said she and her colleague Swarnaa Jha were not permitted to leave their hotel in Unakoti. The journalists have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 120(B) (punishment for criminal conspiracy), 153(A) (promoting disharmony, enmity, or feelings of hatred between different groups on the basis of religion), and 504 (promoting disharmony, enmity, or feelings of hatred between different groups on the basis of religion) (intentional insult). Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Saturday that no mosques in Tripura had been damaged. The Centre denied that any altercation in the state resulted in injury, rape, or death.