NewsClick's Prabir Purkayastha Adds To Growing List Of Journalists Jailed In India

Over the last decade, countless Indian journalists have been targeted by probe agencies and many have been put behind bars. While the charges framed against them have been over alleged terror links or illegal funding and anti-national activities, these journalists are usually renowned for their detailed reportage, usually not much in favour of the government. 

The question of press freedom surfaces every time a journalist is arrested. The latest raids by Delhi Police's Special Cell at the homes of journalists and writers associated with media outlet NewsClick, and the subsequent arrest of its founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and HR Head Amit Chakravarty, are also being seen by critics as a dent in press freedom in the country.

While journalists including Gautam Navlakha, Siddique Kappan, Mohammed Zubair, Teesta Setalvad and others have been released, there are still six Indian journalists who continue to remain behind bars.

Asif Sultan

Asif Sultan is a Kashmiri journalist who has been in prison since his arrest in August 2018 under the draconian anti-terror law – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was arrested after a midnight raid and has been accused of “harboring known pro-freedom fighters” while working as an assistant editor for a Srinagar-based English magazine Kashmir Narrator, an allegation that Sultan, his family, and colleagues, claim as ‘baseless’. However, Asif continues to stand by his fight for press freedom. A photograph of him at the court complex went viral about two years ago showing him wearing a T-shirt with the message ‘Journalism is not a crime’. 

Fahad Shah

Fahad Shah, journalist and editor of the Srinagar-based independent news website The Kashmir Walla was arrested on February 4, 2022, after he reported on a deadly police raid in Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmir Zone Police Twitter account accused Shah of "glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news and inciting the general public" and booked him under UAPA. In 2020, Shah was nominated for the Press Freedom Prize For Courage, administered by the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), for playing “an important part in defending press freedom, using innovative methods to keep 8 million Kashmiris informed” after August 2019.  Despite judges granting him bail in three cases, the 32-year-old journalist remains incarcerated in an FIR about an article published in almost over a decade ago in November 2011, titled ‘The shackles of slavery will break’, that wasn’t authored by him.

Sajad Gul

Sajad Gul was another reporter with The Kashmir Walla who was arrested on January 6 for posting a video on social media about a protest at the home of a rebel killed during a gunfight with the Indian armed forces. He was at the time pursuing his master’s degree in convergent journalism. A day after a court granted him bail in connection with a police case that accused him of criminal conspiracy, the Jammu and Kashmir administration detained him under the Public Safety Act which has been repeatedly used against a detainee to put them in jail for an extended period. 

Rupesh Kumar Singh

Rupesh Kumar Singh is an independent Hindi journalist from Jharkhand known for his extensive reportage on issues of human rights violation and persecution of tribal people. He was first targetted in 2019, when he was detained by teams of the Intelligence Bureau and Andhra Pradesh State Intelligence Bureau who accused him of being part of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). In 2021, Singh's phone number was among that of 40 Indian journalists which appeared on a leaked database of potential targets of cyber surveillance using Pegasus spyware, largely used by governments. Rupesh Kumar Singh has been in jail since July 17, 2022, when he was arrested by Jharkhand Police over alleged Maoist links. 

Manan Gulzar Dar

Manan Gulzar Dar, also known as Mohammad Manan Dar, is a young freelance photojournalist from Jammu and Kashmir who was detained in October 2021 following a raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who accused him of terror links and militant conspiracy. He, like many Indian journalists, was charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Dar's works have appeared in many local outlets as well as international publications including The Guardian and the Pacific Press photo agency. Manan’s brother, Hanan Gulzar Dar, who was still in college, was also arrested in the same case. While Manan was granted bail in January this year, his brother continues to be in jail.

Irfan Mehraj

Irfan Mehraj, another Kashmiri journalist and human rights activist, was arrested by the NIA in a similar fashion in March this year. Mehraj was also accused of funding ‘terror’ activities. He started his career in 2013 in Kashmir Life, a weekly magazine based out of Srinagar. Mehraj was known for his fresh takes and fearless reportage in the politically sensitive region and wrote on Kashmir’s politics, history and culture. His recent works include a story on the film Kashmir Files for Al Jazeera, the drug abuse problem of J&K for DW, extrajudicial killings in the region for Article 14, among others. NIA alleged Mehraj was a “close associate” of Khurram Parvez, a human rights activist in Kashmir, jailed for an alleged NGO-linked terror funding case.