UP: Two journalists accosted while reporting on GST hike

Two journalists working with Uttar Pradesh-based ChalChitra Abhiyaan were allegedly threatened and accosted while reporting on the people’s reactions to the recent hike in Goods and Service Tax (GST) on Wednesday.

Shakib Rangrezz and Vishal Stonewall were accosted by a man in Kishanpur Birali village in Bhagpat, Uttar Pradesh.

Nakul Sawhney, founder of ChalChitra Abhiyaan described the incident on Twitter, saying “This is the state of press freedom and ground reporting in India.” He alleged that the man who accosted the reporters was a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bhagpat police responded to Sawhney’s tweet, directing him to file a complaint at the Ramala police station and assuring him of legal action “as per rules”.

Sawhney told digital news platform Newslaundry that this was not the first time reporters working with his organisation had been targeted in this manner. He said that many reporters working with ChalChitra Abhiyaan came from vulnerable minority communities, and this made them easier targets.

Newslaundry quoted Rangrezz as saying, “He threatened us saying that we had better leave or he would call other people. We were stopped from doing journalism.”

Stonewall said that the man accused the reporters of spreading falsehoods about the government and told them not to report from there.