|
|
|
|
Harassed
May 23
Tauseef Mustapha, Agence France-Presse (AFP), ATTACKED, HARASSED
Qaisar Mirza, Associated Press (AP), ATTACKED
Troops of the Border Security Force (BSF), a paramilitary group of the Indian army, beat AFP photographer Mustapha and AP correspondent Mirza while they were covering demonstrations against local elections in Baramulla, north of Srinagar, in the state of Kashmir. The troops smashed two of Mustapha's cameras and confiscated his film. Protestors called the elections an attempt by India to legitimize its claim to Kashmir.
May 30
Santosh Gupta, Hindustan Times, ATTACKED
Ravi Batra, Indian Express, ATTACKED
Ali Mohammad Sofi, Press Trust of India (PTI), ATTACKED
Shankar Chakraborti, Hindu, ATTACKED
Meraj-ud-din, Associated Press Television (APTV), ATTACKED
Prabhat Banber, Press Trust of India (PTI), ATTACKED
Six journalists: Gupta, a reporter for the Hindustan Times; Batra, a reporter for the Indian Express; Chakraborti, a reporter for the Hindu; Meraj-ud-din, a camera operator for APTV; and Banber and Sofi, both photographers for PTI were beaten by troops of the Border Security Force (BSF), a paramilitary group of the Indian army. The journalists were in Srinagar, Kashmir, covering demonstrations against local elections in Baramulla, a Kashmiri town north of Srinagar. Protesters called the elections an attempt by India to legitimize its claim to Kashmir. Sofi required two stitches in the head after being struck with a rifle butt. The journalists attempted to lodge a complaint with the election commissioner, but he refused to meet with them. In response, members of the media boycotted a press conference that evening by the State Chief Secretary of Kashmir.
July 8
Fayaz Ahmed, New Delhi Television, HARASSED
Gulzar Ahmed, Uqab, THREATENED
Masood Ahmed, Wadi-ki-Awaz, THREATENED
Shujaat Bukhari, Kashmir Times, THREATENED
Bilal Butt, Asian News International (ANI), HARASSED
Javed Farooq, The Pioneer, Greater Kashmir, HARASSED
Arshad Hussein, ZeeTelevision, HARASSED
George Joseph, Business India Television (BITV), HARASSED
Fayaz Kabli, Reuters, HARASSED
Meraj-ud-din, Associated Press Television (APTV), HARASSED
Sheikh Mushtaq, Reuters, HARASSED
Tauseef Mustafa, Agence France-Presse (AFP), HARASSED
Surinder Singh Oberoi, Agence France-Presse (AFP), HARASSED
Abdul Qayoom, Uqab, THREATENED
Maqbool Sahil, Chattan, THREATENED
Afzal Shah, Kashmir Times, HARASSED
Zahoor Shair, Al-Safa, THREATENED
Amin War, Daily Excelsior, HARASSED
Unidentified, Chattan, HARASSED
Gunmen for the Indian-backed militia Jammu and Kashmir Ikhwan abducted 19 journalists who were traveling together to a press conference in the Kashmir Valley. The gunmen intercepted the journalists at Anantnag, 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of Srinagar, and took them to the Ikhwan's nearby headquarters. There, Ikhwan commander Hilal Haider threatened to kill six of the journalists who worked for Kashmiri newspapers--reporters Gulzar Ahmed and Qayoom of Uqab, Masood Ahmed of Wadi-ki-Awaz, Bukhari of the Kashmir Times, Shair of Al-Safa, and photographer Sahil of Chattan--unless the editors of Srinagar's eight major dailies appeared before him by noon the following day. The editors had disregarded a "ban" that Haider had ordered on their newspapers the previous week for having given the Ikhwan inadequate coverage. The editors, who were informed of the threat to kill the journalists by phone, said they would not heed the summons. Seven-and-a-half hours after the abduction, the elite Indian commando unit Rashtriya Rifles intervened and secured the release of all 19 journalists. CPJ in a July 9 statement condemned the abduction and called for the disarming of the government-backed militias.
October 25
Isar Ahmed, BiTV, ATTACKED
Maya Mirchandani, New Delhi Television, ATTACKED
Renuki Puri, Indian Express, ATTACKED
Anil Sharma, Pioneer, ATTACKED
Ashutosh Gupta, Aaj Tak Television, ATTACKED
Other journalists, ATTACKED, HARASSED
Followers of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Kanshi Ram assaulted at least five journalists in front of Ram's home. The five were among a group of reporters who wanted to question Ram about what his party planned to do after elections for the assembly in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh proved inconclusive. An enraged Ram slapped Gupta, a correspondent for Aaj Tak Television, and called on his followers to beat and shoot the journalists. Ram's staff and security detail--which included plainclothes members of the Delhi police--immediately attacked the reporters. Two of them were severely beaten, including Gupta and BiTV correspondent Ahmed, who was hospitalized for chest injuries. Delhi Television correspondent Mirchandani, Indian Express photographer Puri, and Pioneer photographer Sharma were also assaulted. Police made no arrests, and the Home Ministry referred the matter to the Press Council of India, which has the authority to make only nonbinding recommendations. On Oct. 26, local journalists organized a march to the Home Ministry to protest the government's failure to take action in response to the assaults. Delhi police violently suppressed the procession. When the protesters overran barricades the officers had set up, police fired tear gas shells and used a water cannon to disperse them. Two days later, police arrested and briefly detained 300 journalists who were attempting to hold a related protest march from the Indian Newspapers Society building to Parliament House.
December 14
Mahanagar, ATTACKED
Nikhil Wagle, Mahanagar, HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Nishikant Bahaleroh, Mahanagar, IMPRISONED, HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Some 500 activists from the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena Party, which governs Maharashtra state, stormed the offices of the Marathi-language daily Mahanagar in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) after the paper published critical remarks by G. R. Khairnar, a former municipal commissioner, about Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. While their fellow party members demonstrated outside, a number of activists entered the editorial office of Mahanagar through a rear window and disconnected phone lines, damaged office equipment, and attempted to set a fire. Six of the activists who broke into Mahanagar's office were arrested for causing a civil disturbance. All were released on bail. The police also registered charges against two editors of Mahanagar. On Dec. 18, the police charged Wagle, the paper's editor in chief, with defaming political leaders and causing civil unrest. Bahaleroh, an editor at Mahanagar, was charged on Dec. 20 with inciting civil unrest; he was held in jail for two days. Wagle said he viewed the charges merely as a form of harassment, and did not believe that either he or Bahaleroh would face trial.
For more information contact asiaweb@cpj.org