Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district on Saturday booked two journalists and two others for their social media posts on the alleged lynching of a Muslim man, Firoz Qureshi.
The FIR was filed against Zakir Ali Tiyagi, Wasim Akram Tiyagi, Asif Rana and Saif Allahbadi at the Bhavan police station for the social media posts showing Qureshi being beaten to death in Jalalabad.
They were booked under BNS Section 196 (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and Section 353 (Statements conducing to public mischief).
“It was also informed earlier that it is clear from the post-mortem report that the cause of death was not assault. The deceased had entered the accused’s house drunk. Despite this, the incident has been deliberately posted on social media as mob lynching to spread communal hatred. In the registered FIR, action will be taken as per the Post Mortem report. An FIR has also been registered against malicious posts and legal action will be ensured,” the police statement read.
“The so-called journalist made a post with the sole intent to provoke communal hatred. The accusations are irrational and hence refuted. The tweet-making person does not have knowledge of the ground facts,” it stated further.
According to the police, Firoz Qureshi entered the house of the accused in an intoxicated state, where a scuffle ensued between both parties. Later, Firoz’s family took him home, where he subsequently passed away. The FIR was lodged based on the family’s complaint.
“In the post-mortem report, no serious injury was found on the body of the deceased and death was not found to be due to injury. No incident of mob lynching has occurred,” the police said.
Responding to the FIR against him, Zakir Ali Tiyagi said that they are being accused falsely and he will approach the Judiciary in this matter.
“The police will have to give the explanation in the Supreme Court. We will take this FIR to HC, SC and will also take the Shamli police to task. The murder of the fourth pillar of democracy is malicious for this country,” Tiyagi said.
He urged the citizens, leaders and stakeholders of the country to stand in solidarity with journalists and speak out against the attacks and atrocities inflicted on them for their work.
Tiyagi said, “It is shameful for PM Modi who speaks about citizens’ rights and the rights of journalists but fails to protect them, rather the government seems to be involved in these attacks.”
“I have been targeted for my work, based on the statements of the family members of the accused. The only crime is that I called the lynching a lynching, but could not write it as heart attack or accidental death!,” he sobbed.
While looking at the report and the photographs that Clarion India accessed, Tiyagi said, “Even a blind person can write and a dumb person can say that it’s a lynching case,”
So, the question raises that if the police claims it not to be a case of lynching, why was an FIR registered in the first place,” He enquired.
It is pertinent to mention that the local MLA had also called it a murder by beating.
