Deepak Jaiswal and Prabhat Singh have been accused of illegally filming in a government school, and of misbehaving with school officials.
Highlights
- Four journalists arrested in nine months, two in the past three weeks
- Those reporting on loopholes in police claims given warning, picked up
- Chhattisgarh government announced a committee will address media concerns
As Chattisgarh intensifies its thrust against a long-running Naxal insurgency, the collateral damage appears to be those who dare question the police's methods: journalists, scholars and activists.
At least four journalists have been arrested in the past nine months, two just in the past three weeks. A close examination of each case suggests a familiar pattern: those who report on loopholes in the police's claims are given a warning, and then picked up on charges that are flimsy at best.
The Chattisgarh government has this evening announced that a committee will address media concerns; its six members will include two editors.
They will reportedly look at cases like that of
Prabhat Singh and
Deepak Jaiswal, who work as stringers for regional newspapers. Both have been accused of illegally filming in a government school, and of misbehaving with school officials.
The reality: they had gone to report on cheating being allowed in the school exam, a story published on the front page, which led to the suspension of school officials. But the arrests were based on a complaint filed by angry school officials a year ago; the police offers no explanation for the vastly delayed action.
The police also claim Mr Jaiswal is not a journalist. NDTV, however ,was shown a letter issued by his newspaper, which says he has been working for them since October last year as Bureau Chief.
The other journalist, Mr Singh, faces three other cases, two of which accuse him of illegally taking payments of Rs 20 for Aadhar enrolments.
But the Aadhar centres mentioned in the police case against Mr Singh show no direct link to him - one is registered in the name of his brother, the other in the name of a group of men from Andhra Pradesh.
The most serious charge Mr Singh faces is for making sexually explicit comments on a WhatsApp group, a non-bailable offence under the IT Act that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The WhatsApp group where he posted his remark is made up, according to his lawyer and brother, of pro-police journalists, politicians and activists who regularly heckle journalists critical of the police, denouncing them as Naxals and anti-nationals. Mr Singh, his brother says, was stung and made a comment that these "establishment" journalists appear to be sitting in the lap of
Mama, a veiled reference to the powerful top cop of Bastar, SRP Kalluri
The word for lap in Hindi,
godh, seems to be have been translated by WhatsApp into an obscene Hindi word. That in itself, says Mr Singh's lawyer, is not sufficient to charge him under the strongest section of law, reserved mainly for male stalkers on social media.
These cases, say local journalists, are being foisted on those who question Mr Kalluri and his controversial methods in combating Naxals in Bastar. Kamal Shukla, who has been fighting for the rights of journalists told NDTV that in May last year, Mr Singh questioned Mr Kalluri at a press conference about an encounter killing. In response, Mr Kalluri told the journalist that he knows his
janam kundali (astrological chart), interpreted as a barely-veiled threat that critics say the cop has now fulfilled.
Repeated attempts to contact the police, including Mr Kalluri remained unsuccessful.
Mr Singh and Mr Jaiswal will be joining two other journalists in jail- Somaru Nag and Santosh Yadav. Both were arrested last year on charges of links to Naxals. The case against Nr Nag is said be on verge of collapse because the main witness has told court that he was coerced to testify against the journalist.
But even if Mr Nag does make his way out of prison, it's unclear whether he will return to journalism.