On March 26, two days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown to control the spreading of COVID-19, Hindi-language daily Jansandesh Times reported that a tribe in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, didn’t have enough to eat due to the sudden announcement and that children were eating grass. The same day, the magistrate of Varanasi district, Kaushal Raj Sharma, sent a legal notice to the newspaper claiming that part of its report was false and “sensationalized,” according to a copy of the notice reviewed by CPJ. He demanded the newspaper issue an apology within 24 hours or he would take legal action against the authors, Vijay Vineet and Manish Mishra.

It’s not just Jansandesh Times that is in the crosshairs of authorities in Uttar Pradesh. While press freedom violations have long taken place in the state, journalists told CPJ that since the Bharatiya Janata Party maintained its parliamentary majority in Uttar Pradesh during India’s May, 2019, general election, there has been a surge in the number of such incidents in India’s most populous state. During a trip to Uttar Pradesh in late February and early March, journalists told CPJ that they felt under increased threat of criminal charges and physical assault. Such fear could lead to self-censorship.

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