The New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists has said that four journalists from IIOJK along with three Indian journalists have been jailed, which continues to remain at a record high for the second consecutive year since CPJ began its prison census in 1992.
According to CPJ’s 2022 prison census, India continues to draw criticism over its treatment of the media, in particular its use of draconian Public Safety Act to keep Kashmiri journalists Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah and Sajad Gul behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases.
Taking note of journalist imprisonments in India, CPJ said, seven journalists have been jailed- four of them are from Jammu and Kashmir, which continues to remain at a record high for the second consecutive year since CPJ began its prison census in 1992.
The press release said, “India Continues to draw criticism over its treatment of the media, in particular its use of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, to keep Kashmiri journalists Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah, and Sajad Gul behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases.”
The CPJ noted that six out of seven journalists in jail are being investigated under/charged under the terrorism-related Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). “Three journalists have been in jail for more than a year,” CPJ said.
According to the CPJ press release, seven journalists who are imprisoned in India as of December 1, 2022 are:
1) Aasif Sultan, Kashmir Narrator, Jammu and Kashmir (since August 27, 2018 – 4 years 3 months)
2) Siddique Kappan, Freelance journalist, Uttar Pradesh (since October 5, 2020 – 2 year 2 months)
3) Gautam Navlakha, Freelance journalist, Maharashtra (since April 14, 2020 – 2 year, 7 months)
4) Manan Dar, Freelance journalist, Jammu Kashmir (since October 10, 2021 – 1 year 2 months)
5) Sajad Gul, The Kashmir Walla (since January 05, 2022 – 11 months)
6) Fahad Shah, The Kashmir Walla (since February 4, 2022 – 10 months)
7) Rupesh Kumar Singh, Freelance journalist, Jharkhand (since July 17, 2022 – 5 months)—KMS
