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| Vijay Vineet, Siddharth Varadarajan |
Two Indian journalists, Siddharth Varadarajan, co-founder and editor of “The Wire”, and a reporter for the Hindi newspaper “Jansandesh Times” Vijay Vineet find their place in the list of 30 coronavirus “information heroes” across the world – journalists, whistleblowers and media outlets whose "courage, perseverance or capacity to innovate has helped to circulate reliable and vital information during the Covid-19 pandemic."
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based international non-profit, which has prepared the list, notes how Varadarajan summoned for questioning by the police in response to a complaint by the chief minister of Utter Pradesh for “reporting” that the latter “attended a religious gathering that did not respect social distancing two days after the start of a nationwide lockdown.”
As for Vineet, he reported that children from a Dalit community were going hungry as a result of the lockdown and had been reduced to eating grass usually given to cattle. “Harassed by the authorities and told to publish a correction, he stuck by his story and additionally provided an analysis of the nutritional deficiencies resulting from a grass-based diet. He is facing a possible six-month jail sentences on a charge of fake news”, says RSF.
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