Journalist Siddique Kappan who works on the popular Malayalam website Azhimukham.com and three others who were detained by the UP police on Monday in Mathura while on their way to Hathras was booked under the provisions of the Unlawful Practices (UAPA) and Sedition. On Tuesday, the local court in Mathura ordered 14 days of judicial detention. The remaining three arrested are Atiq-ur Rehman, Masood Ahmed, and Alam.
FIR was brought against them at the Mant Police Station and charged under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting group-based enmity), and 295A (excessive religious sentiment) of the IPC, sections 14 and 17 of the UAPA, section 65, 72, and 76 of the Information Technology Act.
They were arrested near Mathura on Monday, with Siddique Kappan going to Hathras to cover the current situation in the city in the light of the death of a 20-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by four Thakur men.
The UP police reported that the four men had been stopped at a toll after getting intelligence that some “suspicious persons were on their way from Delhi to Hathras.” According to a police release, they were confiscated by a laptop, their cell phones, and some of the literature that ‘may have an effect on peace and law and order in the state.’
In its letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) claimed that Kappan is a senior journalist working for many Malayalam media houses, including Azhimukham.com, and went to Hathras on Monday morning to cover the current situation in the area.
“We understand that Uttar Pradesh police have taken him into custody from Hathras toll plaza. Our attempts and the attempts of some Delhi-based advocates to reach him have not been successful, “read the letter sent on Tuesday. Demanding Kappan’s “earliest publication,” the journalists’ union claimed that “Kappan was attempting to do his job as a reporter.”
The KUWJ also filed a petition to the Supreme Court of India asking it “to issue a writ of the form of Habeas corpus or any other suitable writ or directions directed by the respondent … to put Mr Siddique Kappan before this Hon’ble court and to free him from unlawful detention.” The Union, in its petition, argued that Kappan’s arrest was in violation of the D.K. Basu’s Supreme Court rules on arrest and arrest have been made “to hinder the discharge of (its) duty as a journalist.”
The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) also called for Kappan’s immediate release. “The Delhi Union of Journalists is alarmed that Siddique Kappan, President of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi Unit, was arrested in Mathura yesterday while on his way to Hathras to cover up the fallout of the gangrape. He is a talented journalist working for many Malayalam media houses, including azhimukham.com, and was on an official assignment when he was arrested. We recommend his immediate release, “read the statement issued on Tuesday.
The Press Club of India (PCI) has asked that Kappan be published without delay. “It is our apprehension that the Yogi Adityanath Government, in accordance with its explicitly mentioned conspiracy theory as an excuse for the tragic Hathra incident, will use diversionary measures to deflect the attention from the multiple questionable, perhaps illegal, acts of its police and administration, and the virtual silence of the political leadership on the Hathras tragedy.”
“The detention of a journalist from Kerala points out that the government in UP is yet another example of the ham-handed tactics used to deter the media from doing their job. Inhibiting the media is clearly targeted at keeping information from being identified in the public domain, “he said.
