NEW YORK: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets ready for his upcoming trip to the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international watchdog group based in New York, has urged the United States to put pressure on India to stop its crackdown on the media and release six journalists who were arbitrarily detained in retaliation for their work.
According to CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg, since Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014, there has been a growing crackdown on Indian media. In reprisal for their reporting, journalists who were critical of the administration and the BJP party have faced jail time, harassment, and surveillance. We anticipate the United States to make this a central topic of conversation because India is the largest democracy in the world, and it must uphold that reputation by assuring a free and independent media, he said.
Prime Minister Modi of India, a strategic ally of the U.S., begins his state visit to the U.S. on June 21.
India Press Freedom Crisis, a CPJ-organized online panel, featured Geeta Seshu, the founding editor of the Free Speech Collective watchdog group, Anuradha Bhasin, the executive editor of the Kashmir Times newspaper, and Shahina K.K., a senior editor for Outlook magazine. Ginsberg moderated the panel and provided opening remarks.
Seshu described the rise in censorship and vicious attacks on the media during the panel discussion of the deterioration of press freedom over the previous ten years. Shahina shared her ongoing struggle to defend herself against terrorism charges brought against her nearly 13 years ago by the Karnataka state government, which the Modi BJP party then led in retaliation for her investigative reporting.
Bhasin spoke about the effective silence that Kashmiri journalists have dealt with since the Modi government unilaterally revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy status in 2019, with multiple cases of reporters being detained and interrogated.
President Joe Biden, who is hosting Modi’s visit, was urged by CPJ to demand action against the following press freedom breaches in India:
The ongoing imprisonment of six journalists in reprisal for their work: “Aasif Sultan, Gautam Navlakha, Sajad Gul, Fahad Shah, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Irfan Mehraj.” According to strict security laws, all have been targeted, CPJ claimed. Shah is going to court on bogus terrorism allegations related to an article from his online publication, The Kashmir Walla, published in 2011. The five additional journalists are still being held pending trial, it continued.
Harassment of domestic and international media, including frequent raids and retaliatory income tax investigations, opened against unbiased news organizations. Income tax authorities searched the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai in February after the government blocked the broadcaster’s scathing documentary on Modi. Foreign reporters claim they have recently experienced escalating visa uncertainty, restricted access to numerous regions of the nation, notably Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India, and even deportation threats in punishment for adverse reporting.
The media crackdown in Kashmir, including preventative detention, terrorism and criminal cases, travel bans, raids, and summons for questioning in retaliation for journalists’ work. In 2020, the government enacted a stringent media policy outlining powers for authorities to accredit the media, distribute government advertisements, and determine what constitutes fake news.
Ongoing impunity in cases of killed journalists. At least 62 journalists have been killed in India in connection with their work since 1992. India ranked 11th on CPJ 2022 impunity index, with unsolved cases of at least 20 journalists killed in retaliation for their work from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022.
Restrictions on digital media may include using the Information Technology Rules, 2021 to prohibit critical journalism, including the BBC documentary on Modi. For the fifth consecutive year in 2022, India had the most internet outages, restricting press freedom and journalists’ freedom of expression. —APP
