Uwazi

Tipu Sultan, alias Mustafa Kamal, a former student leader at Visva Bharati University and a left-political activist was arrested by West Bengal police in a five-year-old case under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

On Wednesday, the cops in a midnight raid, stormed the house of Tipu Sultan and whisked him away from his residence in Gurupally, Santiniketan in Birbhum district, according to a GroundXero.in report.

Tipu was produced in Jhargram court on Thursday and the court remanded the activist in police custody for seven days.

The family members, activists and several rights organisations condemned the arrest and have alleged that Tipu has been falsely tagged to a five year old case with the sole purpose of harassing and intidiminate him into silence.

When the time of midnight raid and subsequent arrest, Tipu was not given a custody memo as per Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the police did not say where he was being taken or whether he was arrested or not, Groundxero.in reports.

Human rights organisations Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CPDR)- WB, anti-fascist citizen’s forums and student organisations have demanded his immediate release.

Rights groups alleged that the left activist was not produced in court within the mandatory 24 hours of his arrest and the police falsely showed his arrest on 13/10/2021.

“The manner of the arrest of Tipu and slapping of UAPA shows the Mamata Banerjee government is no different from BJP when it comes to dealing with political opponents and dissidents in her state,” read a solidarity statement.

Five year old case

In 2016, Belpahari police had arrested a youth named Jairam Murmu allegedly with a weapon and a poster bearing the Maoist party name. A case was filed against him under the draconian UAPA. However, there was no investigation into the incident from 2016 to 2021. Jairam was released within a year and now he is doing a job.

Tipu’s colleagues and family members allege that his name has been tagged into that “dormant case and he has been arrested now.”

“January 2016! We were college-going kids holding street corners. And weapons? The only weapons we had was our consciousness and the zeal to work for an egalitarian society. Needless to say, these are the weapons they fear the most. As for guns and bombs : none have been seized from him. After an illegal arrest they tagged him in a case that dates back 5 years! The ridiculousness of the charges is limitless,” one of Tipu’s friends said to the news website.

Second arrest

In November 2018, Tipu Sultan was arrested along with three other student leaders by the West Bengal police from Jangalmahal.

The police had claimed that Tipu and friends were “Maoist operatives” and the police recovered “Maoist leaflets” from their possession.

All four were charged under sections 149 (unlawful assembly), 120 (concealing design to commit offence), 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war), 122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war), 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.

One year after the arrest, Tipu was released in 2019, as the police couldn’t produce even a chargesheet against him in court.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Abdul Rashid is a resident of Kirdoli village in Sikar district of Rajasthan. He has filed RTIs with regards to development works in his village and has helped victims of atrocities seek justice. Background of the Incident: Approximately three months ago, Mr. Rashid had filed RTIs seeking information on the allotment of pattas (land titles) in his village of Kirdoli. On November 14, 2021, the first appeal officer provided information on the same which showed that the pattas had been allotted to benefit the current sarpanch of the panchayat at Kirdoli, Ms. Haseena and her family. The RTI also revealed that the inquiry officer at district development office had found the panchayat guilty of the act. Details of the Incident: On November 15, 2021, Mr. Rashid and his friend Mr. Javed were on their way to Sikar from their village Kirdoli. At around 9 AM, about 200 meters from Chailasi Bus Stand, a white SUV (Scorpio) overtook their car and blocked their way. At the same time, another SUV (Bolero) blocked the path of the car from behind. Around 10 - 12 men emerged from both the SUVs armed with sticks, iron rods and pipes. They pulled the HRD out and started beating him with the intent to kill. They also smashed his car. One of the assaulters that the HRD could identifi was Mr. Imran, who tried to hit the HRD on the head, but the HRD managed to shield himself by raising his arms. His friend tried to stop the attackers but was also beaten up by the group. The group inflicted multiple blows to the HRD’s hands and legs. The attackers openly told the HRD that they had been sent my Mr. Maksood, who is the husband of the Sarpanch Ms. Haseena. During the attack men in the group told him that the attack was a consequence of his RTIs against them. The brutal attack rendered the HRD unconscious. His friend, Mr. Javed, called up other friends and relatives and the HRD was rushed to SK Hospital in Sikar. The doctors stated that his situation was grave and shifted him to Sawai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur, where he received treatment for his injuries. Bones in both his hands and legs were broken as result of the attack. He is currently recovering from his injuries. On November 15, 2021, since the HRD was in an unconscious state, his friend, Mr. Javed, filed an official police complaint based on which the police registered an FIR (0400) at Sikar police station under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (causing voluntary hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 327 (voluntarily causes hurt, for the purpose of extorting from the sufferer), 427 (Mischief leading loss and damage). Till date, the police have only arrested two persons involved in the incident, while the Sarpanch and her family continue to be out. According to the HRD, among the group of men there were nephews of Mr. Maksood - Mr. Ekram and Mr. Nizamuddin. Mr. Nizamuddin’s son Mr. Javed was also part of the group. The way the attack was carried out shows a clear intent to kill the HRD. The police, however, have not shown the alarm and urgency that such a heinous assault should register. The attackers should be booked and arrested under section 307 (attempt to murder), which is a non-bailable offence as well as a cognizable offence.

THE NATIONAL Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested human rights activist Khurram Parvez in Srinagar in connection with a case filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including terror funding.

Earlier in the day, the NIA raided Parvez’s residence and also carried out searches at the office of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) in Srinagar. Parvez is the programme coordinator of the JKCCS, a federation of human rights groups and individuals working in J&K founded in 2000 by human rights lawyer and activist Parvez Imroz.

While Parvez was initially detained for questioning, the NIA formally arrested him in the evening. The arrest memo says he was arrested in the case, FIR RC-30/2021/NIA/DLI filed on November 6, under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging, attempting to wage, abetting waging of war against the government), and 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121); and Sections 17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy), 18B (recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist act) and 40 (raising funds for a terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Sources said Parvez’s family was informed about his arrest in the evening, and he is likely to be taken to New Delhi on Tuesday. The arrest memo says his brother, Sheikh Shaharyar, was informed about his arrest.

In October last year, the NIA had raided Parvez’s residence and office in Srinagar, along with the residences of several activists and journalists. Following the protests after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in 2016, Parvez was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) by the then Mehbooba Mufti-led government.

Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday detained relatives of two civilians killed in a controversial gunfight after the families staged a protest in Srinagar demanding that local police return the bodies for traditional burial.

The two civilians were among four people killed in a shootout with government security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir earlier this week, and their families have accused those troops of lying about how the raid unfolded.

Police say the civilians died in the crossfire between government troops and rebels. But witnesses and families of the civilians say Indian troops used those civilians as human shields during the standoff.

On Tuesday, police in the disputed region’s main city said that four people were killed in the raid.

The fight, according to police, left dead a foreign "terrorist," Hyder — whose alias, according to police, is Bilal Bhai — along with his "associate," Aamir Ahmad, and "two sympathizers," Mudasir Gul and Altaf Ahmad Bhat.

Vijay Kumar, police inspector general for the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, told reporters that police had information about the presence of militants in the area.

"The joint teams of police, central reserve police force and army set up a cordon and searched," he said, adding that when government forces knocked on the door of a room where the militants were hiding, militants shot at them, and in "self-defense, troops opened fire."

The gunfight took place inside a three-story shopping center owned by Bhat, who sold cement and hardware on the ground floor. Gul rented the first floor, where he operated a construction business and a call center where he employed Ahmad as a helper.

'Gunfight was staged'

"I believe the gunfight was staged," eyewitness Mohammad Shafi told VOA. "Police have constantly changed their statements."

Shafi disputed the police claim of killing four people, including a foreign militant.

"Following the gunfight, I saw only three bodies being taken out from the building before leaving the spot,” he said. “I wonder, who was the fourth one?"

Another eyewitness, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said he knew the three people killed, especially Bhat, who was a "classmate and neighbor." He believes all three were innocent civilians.

The eyewitness told VOA that police first rounded up everyone on the premises and led them to a nearby showroom.

"Then a few policemen asked [Bhat] and [Gul] to accompany them inside Bhat's building, and they obeyed," he said.

Police went inside and came back out multiple times before taking Gul's worker Ahmad inside as well.

Soon after, bystanders heard gunshots.

A picture of Bhat's bloodied body started circulating on local Facebook pages. Later, police tweeted that militants had been killed in the encounter.

'Human shield'

Journalist Saima Bhat, Bhat's niece, accused police of using her uncle as a human shield.

"You killed my innocent uncle Mohammad Altaf Bhat in cold-blooded murder in Hyderpora [neighborhood], you used him as human shield and now saying he was ‘OGW.’ Return us his body," she tweeted, using an acronym for "over ground workers," a regional colloquialism for people who provide logistical support to militants or terrorists.

Bhat's brother Abdul Majeed told VOA the authorities have falsely accused his brother of supporting militancy.

"I challenge the inspector general of police to prove that my brother was an OGW," Majeed said with tears in his eyes before criticizing police for risking the lives of ordinary citizens by including them in search operations.

"If [police and army] had information about the presence of militants, they should conduct their own searches without risking innocent lives," he said.

According to Majeed, Ahmad was a poor worker who did odd jobs for Gul.

"The first time government forces entered inside the building, they frisked [Ahmad] and asked him to wait downstairs,” Majeed said. “Had he been a militant, they would have nabbed him right then."

'At least return his body'

Gul, the third person killed in the fight, was a physician who had switched to the construction business. Police labelled him a "white-collar terrorist," but his family and friends called his killing "cold-blooded murder."

Gul's father, Ghulam Mohammad Rather, is calling for a judicial probe.

"My son had nothing to do with any militant organization," he said. "At least return his body so we can perform his last rites."

One of Gul's friends alleged that the police were "cooking up something" because they kept changing their statement.

Police account

Inspector Kumar says police approached the families of Gul and Bhat about participating in the burial.

"Since we have apprehensions of law-and-order problems, we cannot hand over bodies to families,” he said. “We took bodies to Handwara — some 90 kilometers from Srinagar — where burial took place."

In a statement, police said that two pistols were recovered from the site of the encounter, and that the call center in Bhat's building had been used for terrorist activities.

Police initially said both Bhat and Gul were injured and eventually killed by "terrorists firing," but later said that both men may have been caught in the crossfire between the alleged militants and police.

"I'm saying [Bhat] was killed in cross-firing,” Kumar said. “I'm not saying if he was killed by militants or if we fired at him. During the encounter, whose bullet hit him is a matter of investigation. If he was hit by a pistol bullet, then terrorists have killed him; if hit by AK rifle, then we can say he was hit by our bullet."

Demand for independent inquiry

The incident has sparked outrage across the valley, and various political parties have condemned it.

The former chief minister of Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, accused the Indian government of atrocities.

"Using innocent civilians as human shields, getting them killed in cross firing & then conveniently labelling them as OGWs is part of [the government of India's] rulebook now,” Mufti tweeted. “Imperative that a credible judicial enquiry is done to bring out the truth & put an end to this rampant culture of impunity."

About the Human Rights Defenders: Ms. Gayathri Srikanth is a teacher, writer and women’s rights activist. She heads a Women’s forum called Iraivi Pengal in Puducherry, working against violation of women’s rights and for the welfare of the women in the community. Details of the Incident: On August 09, 2021, a woman victim went to the Lawspet Police Station in Puducherry to register a complaint against her husband for domestic violence. At the police station, Mr. Shanmugam, a police constable, harassed the victim by using inappropriate language describing her physical appearance and asked for an oil massage in return for helping her get a lawyer for her case. The victim left the police station and approached Ms. Gayathri Srikanth and told her about the harassment she faced at the Lawspet police station. To collect evidence against Mr. Shanmugam and to confirm his conversation with the victim at the police station, Ms. Srikanth asked the victim to call Mr. Shanmugam over the phone in her presence on August 11, 2021. The conversation of this phone call was recorded. On the same day, Ms. Srikanth then called the police station, complained to the SP that she had the evidence in form of recording and asked them to take a stern action against Mr. Shanmugam. However, no action was taken against him, and he was transferred to the armed forces dept on August 12, 2021. On August 16, 2021, the woman victim registered an FIR in the Lawspet police station against Mr. Shanmugam for harassment. Since then, on multiple occasions Mr. Shanmugam called both the victim and Ms. Srikanth over the phone and threatened them repeatedly. He also sent them malicious messages over social media and WhatsApp targeting saying that Ms. Srikanth was extorting the police for compensation regularly. He called and threatened victim’s husband and posted lewd and filthy messages regarding the victim in whatsapp groups. His harassment of the original victim and the WHRD has caused much mental agony to both the women. On August 19, 2021, Ms. Srikanth and the victim wrote an email complaint to the cybercrime police at Puducherry against Mr. Shanmugam for threats and malicious messages he had sent. On August 20, 2021, Mr. Shanmugam was suspended from duty. However, no FIR was registered against him by the cybercrime police. Furthermore, the cybercrime police told Ms. Srikanth that since article 66 (A) of the IT Act has been struck down, her complaint had been closed. On August 24, 2021, Ms. Srikanth wrote a letter to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Puducherry, asking for his help as there was no FIR filed by the cyber police on the incident but received no reply.

The charred dead body of an RTI activist and journalist who had ‘exposed’ illegal medical clinics that were operating in his village was recovered on Friday night. The body of Buddhinath Jha, also known as Avinash Jha, was found five kilometres away from Benipatti village in the Madhubani district of Bihar, where the 22-year-old lived. He was working with a local Hindi news portal, BNN News Benipatti.

Buddhinath went missing on the night of November 9, when he left his house. He was last seen crossing the road near his clinic at around 9:58 pm that day, according to close circuit TV camera (CCTV) video footage. He was seen talking to somebody over the phone and pacing near the main road, according to the footage.

There was no information about his whereabouts after that. B.J. Bikash, his cousin, told The Wire.

Family members said they suspected the medical mafia’s role in the killing, as Jha – in his capacity as a journalist and transparency activist – had filed complaints against illegal clinics, resulting in the closure of some and fines against others.

Family members told The Wire, “When we went to his room in the morning, we found his bike near his clinic. His laptop was on, which means he planned to go out only for a few minutes.”

On November 10, his family members informed the local police. According to family members, his mobile phone was traced to a village around five kilometres away on the morning of November 10.

On November 11, Chandrashekhar Jha, his elder brother, lodged a complaint at the Benipatti police station. “My brother has been missing since November 9. His mobile phone is switched off,” the application says.

His complaint named 11 private nursing homes in the area, saying they may have played a role in Buddhinath’s disappearance as the journalist had filed complaints against them under the Public Grievances Redressal Act.

Meanwhile, his friends and relatives wrote about his disappearance on Facebook. On November 12, B.J. Bikash got a call from a village about five kilometres from Benipatti. “At around 6:41 pm, I got a call. The caller told me that a dead body has been found beside a state highway. We, along with the police, went there and found his charred body. We identified him and his body was cremated after a postmortem,” he says.

Arvind Kumar, SHO of Benipatti police station told The Wire, “We have taken a few suspects into custody. The matter is being investigated.”

Jha’s complaints and action on unauthorised clinics

Buddhinath Jha had exposed many unlicensed private clinics which were operating in the area. His complaints to district public grievances redressal officers had resulted in fines and actions against private clinics since 2020. In August this year, after Jha’s complaint, district health officials had searched eight private nursing homes which were allegedly run without proper licenses. Four clinics were slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

Some clinics had changed their address to evade action. The police had also lodged FIRs against some clinics.

Dr Sunil Kumar Jha, the civil surgeon of Madhubani district, confirmed that after Buddhinath Jha’s complaints, action was taken against unauthorised clinics.

His relatives said that he had opened a nursing home in 2019, where doctors from different areas would visit and treat patients. That had angered local doctors and they had got the clinic closed, he said. It was then that he decided to identify unauthorised clinics in the area and started filing RTIs and complaints, according to his relatives.

Trilok Jha, another elder brother, said, “Due to action taken against private nursing homes, the operators were angry. They had threatened him many times and also offered money if he stopped filing complaints. But he was adamant to expose them.”

Planned another campaign against illegal clinics

Buddhinath’s colleague Kanhaiya Kashyap told The Wire, “Despite the action taken by health officials, some illegal private clinics were still operating under new names. He was planning another round of complaints against them.”

“A week ago, Buddhinath told me that he will again start lodging complaints with health officials. On Facebook, he had posted on November 7 that the ‘game will start’ from November 15, indicating that he would file complaints against unauthorised clinics on that day,” Kashyap says.

“We suspect the medical mafia hatched a conspiracy and burnt him to death after kidnapping him,” Trilok Jha said.

When The Wire asked the station house officer (SHO) about the motive behind the murder, the officer said he will only comment when more information is available.

The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party has criticised the Nitish Kumar government over Kha’s killing. It said, “Telling the truth and protesting against wrong actions is the biggest crime in the Nitish Kumar regime. People who are running the government have increased the morale of criminals and mafias for their own benefits.”

Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha also tweeted about the incident, saying, “Yesterday social worker Navin Jha and today RTI activist Avinash Jha have been murdered. Nitish Kumar ji, leave your last 15 years performance, show your performance now.”

RTI activists in the crosshairs

Jha’s murder has once again highlighted the dangers that transparency activists face in Bihar. In September, East Champaran-based RTI activist Vipin Agarwal was murdered in broad daylight when he was returning from the block office. He had filed more than 20 RTIs against government land encroachment.

More than 20 RTI activists have been murdered in the state since 2006. Rarely have the accused been brought to justice in these cases, which has only emboldened criminals, activists say. RTI activists have demanded security for those working in remote areas.

Mr. John Miran Munda is a well-known labour leader and President of the Jharkhand General Kamgar Union and the Akhil Bhartiya Krantikari Adivasi Mahasabha. A resident of Joda Pokhar area within the limits of Jhinkpani Police Station in West Singhbhum district, he has been raising important issues of public interest such as lack of rehabilitation and compensation for those displaced by the ACC Cement mines and factory in the district, and illegal mining by the company leading to loss of royalty to the state exchequer. Mr. Munda is a trade union activist and has a record of upholding and protecting the rights of marginalised tribal communities.

Background of the incident: In 2008, ACC Cement Limited began operations in West Singhbhum district and owns a cement factory and two limestone mines in that district, which displaced several hundred tribal families in Jhinkpani and Tonto blocks. The Jharkhand General Kamgar Union (JGKU), which has been leading the struggle for recognition of the rights of workers and tribal communities residing in the area since 2009, alleges that the company did not compensate land losers or provide them with jobs, routinely violated laws and legal provisions and engaged in illegal mining. As JGKU’s president, Mr. Munda had organised and participated in numerous peaceful rallies and agitations during this period, and met senior government functionaries as part of various delegations. He was also arrested and imprisoned on several occasions, most recently in March 2020, after the local police and factory administration filed fabricated cases against him. In recent months, media reports indicate that limestone reserves in ACC Cement’s existing mines in the district have been fast depleting, and the company was keen to acquire the lease for another mine. The JGKU and the Akhil Bhartiya Krantikari Adivasi Mahasabha (ABKAM) strongly opposed this move, and wrote to various government authorities highlighting the company’s record of flouting various laws and government orders and sought their intervention. On August 4, 2021, Mr. Munda wrote to the Governor of Jharkhand on the official letter pad of the ABKAM and the letter was co-signed by the Pradhan of Kondwa Gram Panchayat and four other land owners. The signatories alleged that the company was trying to expand mining activities forcibly in violation of important laws and government orders, and specified some of these in the letter: • They stated that ACC Cement Limited had violated Order no 20 of the ministerial council dated October 25, 2019, which mandated that mining on 63 acres of land acquired earlier be commenced within 12 months or the land be returned to the land reforms department. The company had also not compensated land losers. • They stated that while the company was obtaining a new lease for pit F3, it had issued appointment letters to only 45 out of 175 persons who lost their land to pit F2, whereas those who would lose land to pit F3 were not being considered for jobs. Further, a probe by the mines department found ACC Cement carried out illegal mining worth Rs 900 crore in pit F2 and the company was directed to pay a fine in court. • Given that West Singhbhum was a Schedule V area, the company’s failure in returning land for which lease had expired back to the original owners was rendering tribal communities landless and if the company continued to take over their land through the government, landlessness would increase manifold. Mr. Munda and others stated that the company’s agents were threatening and intimidating tribal villagers and trying to acquire the lease for pit F3 by flouting existing laws, and demanded that illegal mining and attempts to terrorise locals be halted, tribal land losers be duly compensated and provided jobs, and land on which lease had expired be returned to original owners. The letter was received and signed by the Governor’s office on August 6, 2021. Details of the Incident: On August 2, 2021, the Superintendent of Police (SP), West Singhbhum, Mr. Ajay Linda approached the District Magistrate (DM) Mr. Ananyan Mittal vide letter no 387/DCB, asking that externment proceedings be initiated against ‘notorious history-sheeter’ Mr. Munda as his presence was disturbing peace in the area.

The DM issued a show cause notice to Mr. Munda under Section 3 of the Jharkhand Crime Control Act, 2002 on August 19, 2021, enlisting 29 cases where he was named as accused, and asking him to explain why he should not be externed. The HRD appeared before DM on August 27, 2021, and stressed that he was not a criminal, but engaged in protecting the rights of workers and tribal villagers affected by the ACC mine and factory, and that influential contractors had filed many false cases against him, and he had been acquitted in several of these cases. Mr. Munda asked that he be provided with copies of all recent complaints against him pertaining to the show cause notice and 15 days’ time to respond to the same, and reiterated these points when he appeared before the DM again on September 7, 2021. Disregarding the HRD’s plea and without providing him with a copy of the complaints, on September 13, 2021, the DM issued an order externing Mr. Munda from the limits of Tonto and Jhinkpani Police Station areas for six months; he was also required to mark his attendance at the Jaraikela Police Station, located over 130 km from his residence in Jhinkpani, every day during this period. The order stated that Mr. Munda was closely involved with other criminals, terrorised people in the area, routinely collected levies from contractors and businessmen and incited workers at ACC Cement and tribal villagers, leading to frequent disruptions in mining activities and loss of revenue for the state exchequer. It listed 29 cases in which the HRD was named as an accused, and noted that “his activities were disrupting peace and harmony in the Tonto and Jhinkpani Police Stations and nearby areas.” Complying with the order, Mr. Munda took up a house on rent in Manoharpur under the limits of Jaraikela Police Station and has been marking his attendance at the police station every day since. He has also not ventured into Tonto and Jhinkpani Police Station areas. Mr. Munda’s absence in the mining area has dealt a heavy blow to the movement to protect the rights of tribal communities. Restricted from entering his area, Mr. Munda is unable to confer on a day-to-day basis with other activists about violations of existing laws and ways to counter them through democratic means. The implications of this are grave, especially because very few people in the area are educated or conversant with laws and state institutions. We firmly believe that the externment order was issued to Mr. Munda in reprisal for his activism, and with the intent of muzzling dissent against the illegal mining. All 29 cases against him were lodged in Tonto and Jhinkpani Police Stations on complaints by policemen or contractors, indicating possible collusion of the police in targeting the HRD. Meanwhile, the local administration has taken advantage of Mr. Munda’s externment from the area to organise mandatory public hearings so as to secure the mine expansion lease. On November 1, 2021, the DM of West Singhbhum issued a notice to village mundas (traditional tribal leaders) in the mouzas of Dhokatta and Kondwa, informing them that a public meeting regarding land acquisition for the ACC Cement mine was scheduled the very next day. Residents were not provided with any information regarding the project, its impact etc, nor given time to reach the meeting from villages located in remote, hilly areas, in violation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

Police in the Indian state of Tripura must immediately drop a terror investigation into journalists for their social media posts about anti-Muslim violence during the last week of October, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

In a complaint filed November 3, Tripura police claimed 102 social media accounts were responsible for spreading “objectionable news items/statements,” according to news reports and the police complaint reviewed by CPJ. CPJ has identified five of the 102 accounts under police scrutiny as belonging to journalists.

Tripura police allege the accounts violated the Indian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law, and sections of Indian Penal Code including promoting enmity, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. If tried and convicted under the UAPA, the journalists face up to five years in prison with fine, according to Indian statutes

“Indian police in Tripura need to accept that reporting on sectarian violence, on Twitter or elsewhere, is a normal activity for journalists and hardly a crime,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The police must stop harassing the journalists for doing their job and drop the terror investigations immediately.”

The social media probes come after a civil society-led fact-finding report found the Tripura government was complacent in controlling the violence in which mosques and properties owned by Muslims were vandalized, according to news reports and a copy of the police complaint reviewed by CPJ.

These are the journalists whom CPJ has identified as having their social media accounts investigated by police.

Meer Faisal, a journalist with news website Maktoob: The police pointed to a Twitter post by Faisal, in which he reported an October 28 attack on a Muslim man, as to why they are investigating him, Faisal told CPJ by phone. In addition to opening the investigation, Tripura police asked Twitter to block his account for violating India’s Information Technology law, which Twitter declined to do, citing its policy to defend and respect “the voice of its user,” according to Faisal and a copy of an email from Twitter to Faisal, which CPJ reviewed.
Shyam Meera Singh, senior editor with news website Newsclick: The police pointed to a October 27 Twitter post by Singh in which he commented on the violence in Tripura, as the reason they’re investigating him, Singh told CPJ by phone. Police also asked Twitter to block his account for allegedly violating India’s Information Technology Act, which Twitter also declined to do, according to Singh and a copy of an email sent to Singh from Twitter, which CPJ reviewed. Singh regularly uses Twitter to comment and report on news events, according to a review of his tweets by CPJ.
Sartaj Alam, freelance journalist with The Guardian, BBC, and The Telegraph: The police pointed to a now-deleted tweet by Alam in which he questioned the failure of the state government in controlling violence, according to Alam who spoke to CPJ by phone. “I’m a serious journalist who is very careful about his tweets. I have broken a lot of news on social media,” he said. “I’m shocked that the Tripura police claimed that I spread fake news through my handle.” Alam said neither police nor Twitter have contacted him.
C.J. Werleman, global correspondent of London-based monthly newspaper Byline Times: The police named a tweet by Werleman in which he shared photographs and a report of a mosque allegedly set on fire. CPJ was unable to contact Werleman.
The police also mentioned tweets by freelance journalist Arif Shah in their complaint, however CPJ was unable to find those tweets or contact information for Shah.

Currently, at least five journalists — Aasif Sultan, Siddique Kappan, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, and Manan Dar are imprisoned in India on allegations of violating the UAPA, according to CPJ documentation.

Today the Indian Supreme Court accepted a petition challenging the Tripura police’s investigation, according to news reports. The Tripura Police director general, V.S. Yadav, did not respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.

Two journalists covering the recent anti-Muslim violence in Tripura were taken into police custody on Sunday on charges of spreading communal disharmony, ANI reported. The action has sparked widespread condemnation from press organisations. The channel they work for, HW News, and civil liberties activists have questioned the legality of their detention.

On Sunday morning, Tripura Police handed over the first information report to journalists Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, filed on the complaint of a person named Kanchan Das. He had alleged that Sakunia and Jha made an “instigating speech” against the Hindu community and the Tripura government while visiting people from the Muslim community in the Unakoti district’s Paul Bazaar area.

In tweets posted in the morning, Sakunia and Jha alleged that they were being held captive in a hotel in Dharmanagar sub-division of North Tripura district. They finally managed to leave the state in the afternoon, but the police of neighbouring Assam detained them in Karimganj district and handed them over to the Tripura Police.

In a video statement issued on Sunday morning, Sakunia said that they were served a copy of the first information report on Sunday morning and more than 15 policemen were deployed outside the hotel where they were staying.

The police also took Aadhaar and transport details of the two journalists, Sakunia said.

Tension has been prevailing in Tripura after a mosque and several shops were attacked in the Panisagar sub-division during a Vishwa Hindu Parishad rally on October 26. The Hindutva outfit was protesting about the attacks on Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh. The police have claimed that no mosque had been burnt in the violence.

In his complaint against the journalists, Kanchan Das had also said that Sakunia and Jha had blamed the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal for burning a mosque in the Paul Bazaar area.

The complainant alleged that the journalists were a part of the criminal conspiracy to damage the communal harmony of Tripura and malign the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Tripura government.

Meanwhile, in its statement on Sunday afternoon, HW News said that the police do not have a case against its journalists.

The statement said that section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not allow women to be arrested after sunset or before sunrise without the order of the magistrate. It said that this procedure was not followed by the police.

It cited Assam police saying that the two journalists will be taken back to Tripura for questioning. The statement said this was done despite police earlier allowing them to leave the hotel in Tripura where they were staying. The police had also given the journalists seven days to record their statement.

“This is sheer harassment and targeting of the press on the part of Tripura Police and Tripura Government to suppress us from reporting facts of the case,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday said that no mosque had been damaged in Tripura, The Indian Express reported. The Centre denied reports of injury, rape or death in any clash in the state.

“There have been news reports that have been circulating that a mosque in Kakraban area of Gomati district in Tripura has been damaged and vandalised,” the ministry said in a statement. “These news reports are fake and are a complete misrepresentation of facts.” Police’s claims misleading: AltNews

Meanwhile, fact-checking website AltNews on Saturday reported that the Tripura Police’s claim of no mosques being vandalised in the state’s Panisagar town was incorrect. On October 28, the Tripura Police had made the claim in a statement replying to a tweet posted by Sakunia.

Sakunia had tweeted a video showing a Muslim man in an ambulance following an attack by unidentified people.

The police have maintained that no mosques were burnt and that images of the alleged incident shared on social media were fake. The police had shared the images of Rowa Jame Masjid to claim that no mosque was burned down.

However, AltNews said that multiple people, including local journalists, told the website that a mosque at the former Central Reserve Police Force camp in Panisagar was vandalised and torched.

This mosque is located about 3 kilometres away from the Rowa Jame Masjid, according to AltNews.

Besides AltNews, Al Jazeera and Article 14 had also shared images of the mosque in the former CRPF camp being torched.

Two days after an independent fact-finding team of Supreme Court lawyers visited Tripura and expressed discontent at the incidents of alleged vandalism in houses, shops and a few mosques in the aftermath of the vandalism in Bangladesh, Tripura Police booked them under different charges, including criminal conspiracy, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and asked for immediate deletion of social media posts and report before the police within November 10.

In a notice to the four Supreme Court lawyers from different organisations, including Lawyers for Democracy, National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO) and the PUCL, Tripura Police Sub-Inspector Srikanta Guha said they were booked in a case with charges of promoting disharmony enmity or feelings of hatred between different groups on the grounds of religion, forgery, threatening, provocation to break public peace and criminal conspiracy under Sections 153A, 153 B, 469, 471, 503, 504 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The case was registered at the West Agartala Police Station on November 3 against social media posts purportedly circulated and statements made by the lawyers during their visit to Tripura.

During a visit here Tuesday, a fact-finding team comprising advocate Estesham Hashmi, a Supreme Court lawyer, advocate Amit Srivastav, Co-ordinator of Lawyers for Democracy, NCHRO national secretary Ansar Indori and PUCL member Mukesh Kumar claimed minority communities were targeted at Panisagar in North Tripura and alleged their houses were ransacked, women were misbehaved with and mosques were attacked.

The team visited Tripura for three days and went to areas of alleged attacks on minority communities in the aftermath of religious vandalism at Durga Puja pandals and temples in Bangladesh.

The lawyers demanded the police to register separate complaints filed by each victim, compensation for damage sustained in the alleged attacks, reconstruction of damaged religious places, action against people spreading fake news on social media, action on officials who might have failed to take proper steps during the purported cases of violence and initiate a judicial probe.

The notice claimed the statements were made for “promoting enmity between religious groups” as well as “provoking the people of different religious communities to cause breach of peace”.

“During the investigation, your involvement has been found in connection with the case. As such, there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain the facts and circumstances relating to the case. Hence, you are hereby asked to immediately delete these fabricated and false statements/comments made/circulated by you in the social media and also to appear before the police by November 10,” said a notice police sent to the lawyers.

In a video message Wednesday, DIG (Southern Range) G K Rao had said, “Some mischievous incidents” have been happening in the state since the last few days.

“There were some minor losses of property and some incidents of disturbance occurred. Tripura Police registered 11 cases filed earlier, including four in North Tripura, three in West Tripura, one in Gomati district and three cases in Sepahijala district,” the official said.

The official also said five persons were arrested so far in connection with these cases and notices were served to three others to appear before the police.

The Chairman of Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR), Altaf Hussain Wani and the Chairman of Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Uzair Ahmad Ghazali have condemned the torture of veteran rights activist, Muhammad Ahasan Untoo by Indian forces in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Altaf Hussain Wani in a statement issued in Islamabad, while highlighting Untoo’s peerless contribution in highlighting Indian brutalities and the plight of common Kashmiris, said that the IFJHR chairman had been tortured and incarcerated many times in the past for his human rights activism. “He is one of the bold and brave voices of the territory who is being victimized just for standing up for the rights of common Kashmiris, calling spade a spade and speaking truth to the power”, Wani said

Urging the world human rights organization to take effective notice of the Indian brutalities, he said that the BJP government was hell bent on silencing every dissenting voice in Kashmir. “Intimidation, torture, arbitrary arrests of rights defenders and terrorizing their families remain to be one of the extreme measures the Indian government has been using as a state policy to enable complete silence on Kashmir and to subdue critical voices who dare to speak truth to power”, Mr. Wani said adding that it was high time that the world should break its silence and hold Indian government accountable for the past and ongoing human rights abuses in the region.

Uzair Ahmad Ghazali in a statement in Muzaffarabad said that the Indian agencies were using force to silence every voice for freedom and justice in the disputed state. He said that violence against a well-known human rights activist, Ahsan Untoo in the occupied territory was a heinous crime and urged the international community to take note of the deteriorating human rights situation in IIOJK.

It is worth recalling here that Mr. Untoo’s was ruthlessly thrashed and beaten to a pulp by the CRPF and police cops on October 19 while he was on a private visit to Watergam village of Rafiabad area of Baramulla district. He has been under fire over the role he played in exposing India’s dodgy and destructive role in Kashmir. His organization (IFJHR) is a regular contributor to the human rights mechanism especially sending parallel reports to Universal periodic reviews.

Earlier, Untoo received death threats from unknown and unidentified numbers, especially after attending an online webinar organized as a sideline event of 48th Session of UN Human Rights Council.

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL) and Jammu and Kashmir Young Mens League have condemned an attack by Indian police and RSS goons on human rights activist, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo.

The JKPFL spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar deplored that Muhammad Ahsan Untoo was thrashed for raising the question of Indian oppression before the press.

He warned that killings, fake encounters, arrests, forced disappearances and termination of employees from services had reached a horrible stage, with daily search operations and persecution by the Indian infamous National Investigation Agency (NIA) as a permanent reprisal policy, but the world was not taking due notice of these tragedies, which was highly deplorable.

The spokesman urged the world human rights institutions and the UN Secretary General to take cognizance of the grim situation in IIOJK by stopping India from perpetuating terror in the territory.

He also paid glowing tributes to the Bijbehara martyrs of 22 October 1993.

Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Young Men’s League, Zahid Ashraf in a statement, denouncing the attack on Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, said that the world community and international human rights bodies must take notice of the Indian state terrorism.

Members of farmer unions in several parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Awadh region carried placards demanding the resignation of MoS Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra allegedly mowed down farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, leaving four of them dead.

The delay in action against Union Minister of State (MoS) Ajay Mishra, whose convoy had allegedly run farmers at Banbirpur in Tikonia village, Lakhimpur Kheri district during a black flag protest, has outraged thousands of farmers, who on Saturday took out a protest march in Uttar Pradesh against the BJP government and burnt effigies of its leaders on Dussehra.

The farmer outfits burnt multi-headed Ravana-like effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pinned with faces of Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath under a national call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a national-level collective of farmer unions.

The effigies read out in Hindi: “I am Narendra Modi, I am anti-farmer.” As it burnt, slogans were raised against the government, demanding the repeal of three contentious farm laws and a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Members of farmer unions in several parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Awadh region carried placards demanding the resignation of MoS Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra allegedly mowed down farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, leaving four of them dead.

“Keeping up with the spirit of the festival—the victory of good over evil—we burnt effigies that symbolised BJP, PM Modi and CM Yogi as evil. The reason behind this is that both Central and State governments have forgotten all democratic values and are working to benefit select corporates while they act against farmers,” Narendra Malik, a farmer leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) told Newsclick.

Voicing dissatisfaction over the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Mukut Singh, UP state secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said, “the farmers’ agitation will get stronger, and their voice louder till MoS Ajay Mishra is sacked from his post and arrested. We will not let the farmers’ sacrifice go to waste,” Singh told Newsclick, adding that “Yogi government’s hatred for farmers is evident. Whenever they raise their voices, either police opens fire on them or they are put under house arrest. Even their leaders are trampled under vehicles.”

Meanwhile, to prevent farmers from burning effigies, more than 100 farmers leaders have been allegedly put under house arrest in Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra, Etawah, Rampur, Sitapur and other districts.

Choudhary Savit Malik, president of Kisan Union, who claimed to be put under house arrest ahead of SKM’s call to burn effigies, claimed that dictatorship, not democracy prevailed in the country, with farmers being “systematically attacked” by the state.

“Ajay Mishra was responsible behind the conspiracy to eliminate farmers at Lakhimpur. He gave a provocative speech that incited violence against farmers. But instead of taking action against him, the Yogi government put farm leaders on house arrest and implicated false cases against them,” said Malik.

In Hastinapur, adjacent to Meerut, officials of the Bharatiya Kisan Union tried to burn an effigy of the Central government on Saturday. However, the police reached the spot and snatched the effigy from BKU workers. During this, BKU workers also had a heated argument with the police. Nearly a dozen farmers were put under house arrest.

Farmer unions said that almost every prominent leader in the state was put under house arrest by the UP administration to thwart any plans of effigy burning.

Meanwhile, members of the Socialist Party (India) led by general secretary Sandeep Pandey on Friday were detained by the police when they had gathered near Shaheed Smarak in Lucknow to burn the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the wake of Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

“As soon as we reached Shaheed Smarak and were about to climb the stairs for the event, a group of police landed at the spot and stopped us from proceeding further. We were protesting in a democratic manner on the call of SKM, and still, the police detained us,” said Pandey.

In Sitapur and Bahraich, effigies of BJP leaders were burnt in several blocks of the district including grain markets.

“Out of the 19 blocks in Sitapur, effigy burning took place in 12 blocks including Akbarpur, Jhariya, Jagamalpur and Nevada in a peaceful manner. Anger among farmers was palpable against the current regime for shielding Ajay Mishra, and its autocratic behaviour for harassing farmers. The Lakhimpur Kheri incident united peasants. The battle against this government will continue till the three agricultural laws are withdrawn,” Brij Bihari, general secretary of Mazdoor Kisan Manch told Newsclick.

“The ruling government is the biggest Ravan in today’s time, as they are ignoring the legitimate demands of farmers due to a stubborn attitude. Hundreds of farmers have lost their lives, but the authoritarian government has not broken its silence,” Bihari said.

Demonstrating at the Rambagh intersection in Agra has cost the officials and workers of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti). The police arrested seven of its office-bearers; later, however, these leaders got bail.

SKM will hold up rail traffic for six hours on October 18, to protest against lack of action against Union Minister Ajay Mishra.

BKU’s Harinam Singh Verma shared how preparations for Rail Roko had already begun. “Farmers from every district will stage blockades on their nearest rail lines. We will not get justice if Mishra remains the Union Minister. So, unless he is sacked, we are going ahead with our Rail Roko programme.” Verma said, adding that a grand Mahapanchayat is scheduled to be held in Lucknow on October 20, for which, preparation is underway.

The family of RTI activist Rai Singh Gurjar, who died in a road accident last week, has alleged foul play, claiming he was killed by people he had exposed in graft cases over the last five years. Police have registered a case of murder against four to five people on the basis of a complaint lodged by Gurjar's family and began a probe. However, they said it appeared to be a case of accident and the exact cause will be known after receiving the postmortem report. The deputy sarpanch of Titarwasa gram panchayat in Jhalawar district suffered a critical head injury in a road accident late Saturday night and died during treatment. In September 2019, the 27-year-old RTI activist had raised his voice against corruption in developmental work being carried out in Titarwasa gram panchayat, which was adopted by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu under the MP model village scheme in May 2017. Later also, he continued to speak against corrupt practices by local officials and public representatives. On Saturday night, Rai Gurjar suffered a critical head injury after his motorbike was hit by an auto rickshaw in Madhopura village. He was rushed to Jhalawar district hospital, where he succumbed to injuries during treatment later in the night. "There was no mark of injury or scratch all over the body but a deep wound into his head and no mark of accident all over the place, where the accident reportedly occurred on Saturday night,” Sujan Singh Gurjar, brother of the RTI activist said. "The deep wound into his head apparently appeared to have been lashed with some sharp weapon," he said, alleging his brother was attacked with a sharp weapon and was murdered as he had been pursuing to expose corruption at various levels in different government projects being carried out in the area. The murder was projected as a road accident, Sujan Gurjar claimed, adding that he lodged a complaint with the police on Sunday against Titarwasa gram sevak Chandra Singh, village sarpanch Kalulal Bheel, who is an accused in a graft case, Dinesh Patidar, who is involved in illegal transportation of soil, and Naipal Singh, a resident of Titarwas village. An FIR was registered under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC against four to five persons, SHO at Jhalrapatan police station Jitendra Singh Shekhawat said. The body was handed over to the family members after postmortem on Sunday and the exact cause of death would be clear only after receiving the postmortem report, the SHO said. Shekhawat, however, said it appeared to be a case of accident.

Mr. Kaleem Ansari (51) is a disabled person and social activist. He has been working for education, social justice and tribal rights for 30 years. He and his wife also run an institute where underprivileged children are given free education. Mr. Ansari is paralyzed and uses a wheel chair with an attendant for mobility.

Ms. Amina Khatoon (16) is the minor daughter of Mr. Kaleem Ansari.

Background of the Incident: Mr. Ansari had been working for Dalit and tribal rights in the locality for 30 odd years. He has also been an active participant in anti-CAA citizen protests in Sonbhadra. In 2019, during the anti-CAA protests, his house was ransacked by the police and extreme pressure was put on him not to take part in the peaceful citizen protests. In 2020, he along with 5 other HRDs, was picked up by the local police and tortured in the police station all night. The draconian Gunda Act was imposed on him by the police which he is fighting against in the court of law.

Details of the Incident: On June 05, 2021 around noon, some social workers including Mr. Kaleem Ansari submitted a peaceful memorandum against three farms law to the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Robertsganj. Following this, Mr. Ansari was going for his physio-therapy on his wheelchair with his daughter as an attendant. As he was about 200 metres away from the physiotherapy clinic, Mr. Yogendra Singh, in-charge police chowki Robertsganj police station, along with a few other policemen in uniform, stopped them near the municipality office and started slapping and assaulting Mr. Ansari. When his daughter tried to stop the policeman and asked him the reason for beating her father; Mr. Singh abused the HRD with slurs saying “langda bahut haraami hai” (the lame man is a Bas****); “bahut shor machata hai” (he makes a lot of noise); “Muslims-Dalits ke Hamdard bantey ho” (he is a sympathiser of Dalits and Muslims) etc. As Mr. Ansari’s daughter tried to stop the policemen, Mr. Singh he also slapped her, abused her verbally, grabbed her hair and pushed her down on the street. He forcibly climbed on the child’s body and snatched her mobile. After snatching their mobile the police left, leaving the disabled father and his minor daughter on the street. Beaten and shocked, Mr. Ansari and his daughter got up and went to the Ashirwad Physiotherapy Centre which was about 200 metres away and Mr. Ansari’s regular physiotherapy clinic. Around 2 pm, as Mr. Ansari was being given treatment in the physio-therapy clinic, several police jeeps stopped outside with 30-35 policemen along with circle officer, inspector and chowki in-charge. The policemen first turned off the CCTV cameras when they entered the clinic. Inside the clinic, Mr. Singh abused and slapped the minor daughter, at which Mr. Ansari protested and then 3-4 policewomen came inside and the SHO told them “maro isey” (beat her) to assault the child at which the policewomen slapped the child repeatedly. After that the policemen started punching and slapping Mr. Ansari and took both the father-daughter duo forcibly to Robertsganj police station in a police jeep without any due procedure or paperwork. In the jeep, they were abused further, and after reaching Robertsganj police station, they were taken to two separate rooms. In one room Mr. Ansari was beaten with kicks, punches, sticks and belts by 3-4 policemen including SHO and Mr. Singh. In the other room his daughter was also beaten. They were also given casteist, religious and lewd abuses by the policemen. Around 4 pm, Ms. Khatoon was released by the police; but between 4:30 pm to 6 pm Mr. Ansari was taken to the hospital for a cursory medical check-up, then taken to the magistrate and sent to Sonbhadra Central jail around 6 pm. The police did not inform his family or relatives nor did they give an arrest memo or FIR. On June 05, 2021, an F.I.R (274/21) was filed by Mr. Singh against Mr. Ansari, under IPC sections 332-Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, 353-Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, 504-Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, 506-Punishment for criminal intimidation, 427-Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees and 336-Act endangering life or personal safety of others. On June 09, 2021, Mr. Ansari was released from the prison. On September 22, 2021, Mr. Ansari, his wife and his minor daughter was sent a notice by the district administration under IPC 107/16 to give reason as to why they should not be made to submit a bond of 1 lakh each for provoking breach of peace. Mr. Ansari objected to the notice and wrote a rejoinder to it. On October 15, 16, 18, 2021, Mr. Ansari was again house arrested in his home by the local police, as the farmers agitation peaked.

An East Champaran-based Right to information (RTI) activist who had raised the issue of illegal encroachment by land mafias in the district through his queries was shot dead in broad daylight on Friday.

45-year old Vipin Agarwal had gone to Harsiddhi block for some work when unknown assailants shot him and fled. He was taken to hospital in Motihari around 30 km away, where he was declared dead on arrival.

He was a resident of Harsiddhi panchayat and had been working as an RTI activist for more than a decade. Apart from his activism, he also ran a business.

“Four bullets were fired at him,” Pramod Paswan, SHO of Harsiddhi police station told The Wire.

He said that Vipin was going to the block office for some land-related matter around 11:30 am that day when two bike-borne criminals fired on him and fled.

The district SP has formed a special investigating team (SIT) to probe the matter.

According to family members, Vipin was continuously raising the issue of land encroachment. He had last year requested police protection as his house was attacked by unknown persons.

“He had filed many RTI queries regarding encroachment of government land in Harsidhi,” his father Vijay Agarwal said. “Last year, my house was attacked. We had informed the local police about it, but nothing was done.”

Targeted for a long time

According to locals, Vipin had filed many RTI applications, and in some cases, action was initiated which might have irked the land mafias.

Family members said that he had been targeted by the local administration as well as encroachers for some time.

He was arrested in 2015 for allegedly selling grain and rations available under government PDS. His family believes the charges against him were trumped up, in order to discourage him from exposing corruption.

On July 5, 2015, his wife Monica Devi had written a letter to the DM (district magistrate) when Vipin was in jail.

The letter said, “He had recently complained of irregularities against a local PDS dealer. His allegation was proved right and the licence was cancelled.” She had also mentioned that government land in Harsiddhi market was encroached upon by influential persons.

“On June 3, the dealer and a few land mafias together framed him for black marketing government ration and got him arrested,” she wrote in the letter.

He also filed a case in the Patna high court in 2013 over eight acres of land in the Harsiddhi market, which belongs to the government.

According to his relatives, he had first sought RTI response on the encroached land and then provided documents to district officials for further action. But the administration didn’t act. Then he filed a case at Patna high court. The court had issued notice to 90 persons to vacate the government land.

The Harshiddhi SHO said, “He was an RTI activist and around dozens of illegal houses which were built on government land were razed. Another case related to encroachment is pending with Patna high court.”

Areraj DSP Abhinav Dhiman, who is heading the SIT, said: “We have been conducting raids in search of the suspects. The matter looks to be related to land encroachers.”

Opposition parties demand security for RTI activists

Opposition parties have criticised the Nitish government after the news came to light.

CPI(ML) Liberation leader Kunal said, “We have sent a team to investigate the reason behind his murder. But the way RTI activists are being murdered in the state is a serious issue. We condemn the murder of Vipin Agarwal. Police should investigate the matter and arrest culprits.”

“RTI activists bring truth which exposes the government, administration and mafias. So they are angry with them. We demand security for RTI activists to be provided across the state”, he said.

RJD leader Nawal Kishore told The Wire, “RTI is the strongest weapon to expose corruption. Good governance will be a reality only when RTI activists act fearlessly. But in Bihar the murder of RTI activist shows that the government is not protecting RTI activists.”

“Police should immediately arrest the culprit and state government should ensure RTI activists’ security,” he said.

’20 RTI activists murdered since 2006′

Bihar has been notorious for the murder of RTI activists. Last year in January a Patna-based RTI activist Pankaj Kumar was murdered by unknown criminals. He too was active against encroachment of government land.

The first reported murder of an RTI activist in Bihar took place in the year 2010. Shashidhar Mishra, a resident of Phulwaria village in Begusarai, was shot dead near his house on the night of February 14, 2010. He exposed several scams and had sent out 1,000 RTI applications in a span of two years.

Since then, there have been reports of RIT activists being murdered almost every year.

So, far around 20 RTI activists have been murdered in Bihar, according to Shiv Prakash Rai, who is also an RTI activist and is the convenor of Nagrik Adhikar Manch.

“The state information commission should have stood by the side of RTI activists, but it is working for the state government. RTI activists are being humiliated by the information commission when they seek information. This gives criminals and land mafias a sense of state protection, so they are committing murders. The state government is completely failing in protecting RTI activists,” he told The Wire.

Bhagalpur-based RTI activist Ajit Singh told The Wire, “Bihar has become a risky place for RTI activists. The system has collapsed.”

“Many times I had written letters to the home ministry asking the state government to protect RTI activists. The home ministry writes a letter to the Bihar government, but the administration does not act,” he said.

“The irony is such that out of dozens of murders, only in one case, culprits were punished,” Shiv Prakash Rai said.

Rohtas-based RTI activist Narayan Giri says, “I was framed in a molestation case by police for exposing their wrongdoings which had resulted in departmental inquiry and fine against top district police official. Later, charges against me proved false.”

“But this is not an isolated case. We are being harassed continuously,” he said.

Since October 8, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have detained four journalists, subsequently releasing two of them, and questioned one other, according to various news reports and other people familiar with the incidents, who spoke to CPJ via phone.

The five journalists are:

Salman Shah, editor of Kashmir First, the online weekly magazine of the privately owned news website The Kashmiriyat
Suhail Dar, a freelance journalist contributing to the privately own news website The Kashmiriyat and the privately owned Urdu-language newspaper Sach News
Mukhtar Zahoor, a freelance journalist contributing to the BBC
Majid Hyderi, a freelance journalist and commentator
Sajad Gul, a freelance journalist contributing to privately owned news websites The Kashmir Walla, Maktoob Media, and Mountain Ink

Authorities formally arrested Dar and Shah yesterday, and both remain detained at Anantnag district jail, according to news reports and family members of the two journalists, who spoke to CPJ via phone. Yesterday, a local magistrate ordered Shah and Dar to remain detained for two days, according to The Kashmir Walla.

“India needs to move quickly to improve its shameful record of harassing and detaining critical journalists in Jammu and Kashmir in a complete abandonment of India’s once-proud tradition of press freedom,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Police must immediately release Salman Shah and Suhail Dar and allow journalists to do their jobs without fear of reprisal.”

On the evening of October 8, authorities summoned Dar to the Sadder police station in Kashmir’s Anantnag district for questioning before detaining him, according to news reports and Dar’s brother, Tariq Dar, who spoke to CPJ via phone. Tariq Dar told CPJ that the police had not informed the family of any reasons for his brother’s detention.

Separately, at approximately 7:00 p.m. on October 12, officers with the Sherbagh police station in Anantnag district detained Shah from his home in the Sheerpora area of Anantnag district for questioning, according to The Kashmir Walla and his brother Imran Shah, who spoke to CPJ via phone. Imran Shah said that his family had not been informed of any police investigation into Shah until his formal arrest yesterday.

Both journalists have been detained under two sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure that allow authorities to hold an individual in preventative custody on an executive magistrate’s order to prevent a “breach of peace,” and to prevent the commission of cognizable offenses, according to The Wire.

Tariq Dar and Imran Shah told CPJ that they have not received a copy of a police report detailing the accusations against Dar and Shah.

Masrat Mir, the station house officer of the Sadder police station, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Dar’s ongoing detention sent via messaging app. Majid Nadeem, the station house officer of the Sherbagh police station, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Shah’s ongoing detention sent via messaging app.

Shah was previously detained from April 5, 2020, to May 8, 2020, on accusations of violating a section of the Indian penal code pertaining to “statements conducing to public mischief,” according to The Kashmiriyat, citing Shah and his lawyer.

Separately, at approximately 12:30 a.m. on October 13, officers with the Ram Munshi Bagh police station detained Zahoor from his home in the Dalgate area of Srinagar and confiscated his camera and his sister’s phone, according to various news reports citing Zahoor and his family.

Zahoor told The Kashmir Walla that he was detained overnight and later questioned about his location on September 1, the same day that a 91-year-old Kashmiri separatist leader died in the city of Srinagar, leading authorities to shut down the internet in Kashmir valley and increase security patrolling in the area. Officers also questioned him about the photos on his phone before releasing him at 2:00 p.m. later that day, Zahoor told The Kashmir Walla.

Tauseef Meer, the station house officer of the Ram Munshi Bagh police station, told The Kashmir Walla that authorities were questioning Zahoor on the basis of an unnamed “suspicion.” Meer did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Zahoor’s detention and questioning sent via messaging app.

Separately, on October 13, the Special Operations Group, the anti-insurgency unit of the Jammu and Kashmir police, summoned Majid Hyderi for questioning at its headquarters in Srinagar, according to The Kashmir Walla and Hyderi, who spoke to CPJ via phone.

Upon arriving at the headquarters, Hydrei was asked to relinquish his phone, but refused to do so, and subsequently switched off his phone upon request, according to the journalist. Hyderi told CPJ that three men in civilian clothing questioned him about his source of income and choice of profession before demanding explanation for three of his Facebook posts. Officers specifically questioned Hyderi for approximately one hour about a post in which he criticized the police’s use of force against participants of Muharram processions earlier this year, he said.

After the questioning finished at around 1:00 p.m., Hyderi was kept in lockup until his release around 5:30 p.m., he said, adding that he was not allowed to offer two Muslim prayers during the questioning and during his detention.

Iftikhar Talib, the superintendent of the Special Operations Group, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Hyderi’s questioning and detention sent via messaging app.

Separately, October 13, officers with the Hajin police station in Kashmir’s northern Bandipora district summoned Gul for questioning in relation to his news report in Mountain Ink and a video he posted on Twitter regarding a Kashmiri man who was killed in a police encounter on October 11, according to The Kashmir Walla and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via phone. Gul told CPJ that he was questioned for approximately one hour about his journalistic activities.

Zahid Malik, senior superintendent of police of Bandipora district, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Gul’s questioning sent via WhatsApp.

In February, Jammu and Kashmir police opened an investigation into Gul on accusations of taking part in an illegal demonstration against home demolitions, as CPJ documented. Gul told CPJ at the time that he denied participating in such a demonstration.

Dilbag Singh, the director general of the Jammu and Kashmir police, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on all five cases sent via messaging app.

The Adivasis and Dalit farmers of Odisha have been resisting bauxite mining at their sacred shrine of Mali Parbat for more than two decades. Spanning across 270 acres, the Mali Parbat mine is in Koraput district, in south Odisha.

The 2007 mining lease of Hindalco Industries expired after it operations were halted due to the tribe’s stiff resistance. In April, the company’s lease was extended by 50 years and it applied for fresh environmental clearance.

When the tribal activists protested the September 22 public hearing of the company, some of them received alleged death threats. Activist Sharanya Nayak, who participated in the hearing, told Newsclick that “325 objections had been raised against the EIA [environmental impact assessment] reports that gave the go-ahead to mining”.

Explaining how officials ensured that there was no opposition during the hearing, Nayak said, “The villagers of Doliamaba had geared were all set to participate in the hearing. There were more than 700 written physical objections against the proposed mining. However, the police, company officials and hired goons had blocked the three roads leading up to the venue. The officials started the meeting before the scheduled time of 11 am to ensure there was no opposition.”

Alleging that “company officials or people hired by them are threatening and singling out the activists who had opposed the public hearing and mining”, Nayak said, “One such activist, Abhi Sadepelli who is secretary of the Mali Parbat Surakhya Samiti, and his wife were threatened that they would be killed if he does not support mining in the region. The activists have registered police complaints against the ongoing death threats.”

When the lease was awarded to Hindalco in 2007, the EIA report mentioned that there was no water body in Mali Parbat.

According to The Hindu, Hindalco failed to mine bauxite till 2011and its environmental clearance expired. However, it started illegal mining in 2012-2014 without an environmental clearance, which was resisted by the tribe.

Locals allege that neither the company nor the state government have clearly explained the adverse impact mining to the villagers. The villagers contend that the EIA report, prepared by VIMTA Laboratory Private Limited of Hyderabad, disregarded the impact of mining on the water sources and subsequent effects on agriculture and horticulture.

The villagers said mining will affect more than 44 villages directly and 200 villages indirectly. While the EIA report shows that there are no water bodies, the villagers said that there are 32 perennial streams and four canals emerging from this hill. Nearly 2,500 families inhabiting 44 villages relying on this water for irrigation will be adversely affect as mining will impact the streams and soil moisture, they added. Other likely hazards are water and soil pollution due to dumping of oil, lubricants and other waste material by the company.

Besides, significant land degradation caused by mining has not been mentioned in the EIA report. Odisha is among the states with the highest soil erosion caused by mining and deforestation. Koraput already has other bauxite mines, including Deomali. Serious soil erosion and land degradation have adversely impacted the region.

Rajan, an anti-mining activist and supporter of Adivasi movements, said, “The Naveen Patnaik government is acting as a stooge for Hindalco and all the other extractive industries; it is against Adivasis and Dalit farmers. The leaders of the Mali Parbat Surakhya Samiti are being harassed and threatened for opposing the proposed Hindalco mining at Mali Parbat.”

Alleging that the public relations officer and the company’s staff are instigating fights at villages, Rajan told Newsclick, “The Koraput local administration and the police, who are hand in glove with the company, are trying to book villagers and tribal leaders who opposed mining under false charges.”

Besides the environmental concerns, the villagers have religious and cultural sentiments attached to the hill. There Adivasis have a place of worship in the Mali Parbat known as Pakuli Pahar Gumpha (sacred cave). The deity is worshiped by the natives of the surrounding villages of Aligon, Kachiguda, Daleiguda, Rajaniguda, Pakijhola and Mania. This old religious place will be destroyed if mining resumes. Attempts by Newsclick to contact Hindalco didn’t get any response.

On September 22, 2021, the public hearing commenced in the presence of Mr. Deben Kr Pradhan, ADM of Koraput and other officials at 9 AM, around two hours prior to the scheduled start at 11 AM. Angered by this breach of due procedure, residents of 44 villagers from four panchayats – Kanti, Sorisha Padar, Daleiguda and Pakujhola – who arrived for the hearing shouted slogans and demanded the hearing be cancelled. The authorities postponed the public hearing. On September 22, 2021, an FIR (91/2021) was registered in Semiliguda Police Station by Assistant Sub Inspector Padma Charana Nayak against the 36 Mali Parbat Surakhya Samiti activists, including the organisation’s president Mr. Bijaya Khila were named in the FIR. They were charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 294 (obscene words in public place), 307 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 326 (causing grievous hurt), 332 (causing grievous hurt to a public servant), 379 (theft), 427 (mischief causing damage up to Rs 50), and 506 of the Indian Penal Code; Section 17 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act; Section 3 of the PDPP Act; and Sections 25, 27 of the Arms Act. On September 24, 2021, police arrested seven HRDs including Mr. G Hemant Kumar (42), Mr. Rabi Khora (43), Mr. Mahanta Khosla (35), Mr. Samba Pangi (45), Mr. Bhikari Guntha (43), Mr. Dambaru Guntha (38) and Mr. Ratan Kadia (28). On October 5, five more HRDS were arrested in connection with the incident, including Mr. Khila, ex-sarpanch Mr. Dasi Nandibali, Mr. Giridhar Khila, Mr. Gobardhan and Mr. Mangudu.

On October 1, at 8.30 PM, police arrested 16-year-old Mr. Bikram Khara – a student of class 9 whose father Mr. Dasa Khara is named in the FIR; although he was a minor and Section 10 of the Juvenile Justice Act mandates that an apprehended juvenile be placed under the charge of the special juvenile police unit and produced before the Board within 24 hours, these provisions were not extended to him. None of the arrested HRDs were shown any arrest memo, or allowed access to a lawyer, in flagrant violation of DK Basu guidelines. They were all produced in court and are currently lodged in jail. Whereas other HRDs named in the FIR fear being arrested in violation of due procedure and are extremely concerned about their physical safety.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Ba Singh Hassa is a resident of Dadgama village in Khunti block of Khunti district. An activist with Adivasi Adhikar Manch – a civil society group that protects the land, water and forest rights of indigenous groups, Mr. Hassa has organised and participated in numerous peaceful movements, demonstrations and meetings in Khunti and other places in the past decade, including in the Pathalgadi movement in 2018-19, and ongoing protests against the new farm laws. He is well-educated and offers advice and support to innocent villagers falsely accused of being Maoists.

Details of the incident: On July 14, 2021, Khunti Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Mr. Sayyed Riyaj Ahemed issued a notice under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (which allows an Executive Magistrate to show cause any person likely to disturb peace or disturb the public tranquillity). It mentioned the names of 25 people, including Mr. Ba Singh Hassa and his brothers/ cousins Mr. Bahadur Hassa, Mr. Kinu Hassa and Mr. Jugal Munda, who were likely to disturb peace and security in the area according to information with the SDO. All 25 persons were asked to report to the SDO court in Khunti on July 22, 2021 and show cause why they should not be asked to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 and two supporting witnesses. Mr. Bahadur Hassa received a call from the Khunti Police Station on July 17, 2021, when he was informed about the notice. He collected the notice from the police station the next day, and reported to the SDO court with Mr. Ba Singh Hassa and other brothers/ cousins on July 22, 2021, and two more subsequent hearings. On September 24, 2021, the day of the fourth hearing, Mr. Ba Singh Hassa, Mr. Kinu Hassa, Mr. Jugal Munda and Mr. Bahadur Hassa reached the court at around 10 AM, whereas their turn came up at 2.30 PM. When they presented themselves before SDO Mr. Ahemed, he asked them not to leave the court premises without his permission. He then called someone from his phone and said that three absconding accused in the murder case (FIR no 88/2018) were sitting in front of him. At around 4.30 PM, Khunti PS Officer in Charge Mr. B Thakur reached the court in civil clothes with three other policemen in uniform. They arrested Mr. Ba Singh Hassa, Mr. Kinu Hassa and Mr. Jugal Munda from inside the court premises. The HRD and his relatives were not informed about why they were arrested, nor shown any arrest warrant or allowed access to a lawyer. All provisions of the DK Basu guidelines were violated. Mr. Hassa and others were taken to the Khunti Police Station in a police vehicle and detained there overnight. They were taken for medical examination at 2 PM, produced in court at around 4.30 PM on September 25, 2021, and remanded to Khunti jail. We firmly believe that the HRD and his relatives were ensnared by the SDO and arrested by police in a case that was over three years old in violation of due procedures. The SDO referred to them as absconding even though Mr. Ba Singh Hassa had communicated and met several police and government officials in his capacity as an activist and participated in many public programmes in Khunti and Ranchi in the intervening period. He was also detained and interrogated by police in Khunti in April 2019. Whereas, the notice against the HRD and his arrest coincided with his active involvement in peaceful meetings and protests against the new farm laws in Khunti. This indicates that the action against Mr. Hassa and others is an act of political vendetta, and aimed at muzzling the freedom of speech, expression and assembly, which are guaranteed under national and international legal frameworks.

After disappearing while covering a farmer protest in Lakhimpur Kheri, a reporter for Sadhna Prime News was found dead on October 4. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Indian affiliates, the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) and National Union of Journalists- India (NUJ-I) condemn the tragic incident and urge for a judicial inquiry into the case.

Local journalist Raman Kashyap’s body was found in a mortuary a day after his reported disappearance while covering the violent demonstrations in Lakhimpur Kheri, where local farmers and political supporters collided. Kashyap was among eight others allegedly killed in the demonstration involving hundreds of farmers.

The farmers gathered to protest the visit of Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister, Keshav M to the village of the union minister of state for home affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, in Tikunia. The incident marks a lethal intensification of the unrest in India since the introduction of controversial agricultural laws.

There are conflicting accounts of the circumstances in which Kashyap died. The editor of the Sadhna Prime news channel, Brij Mohan Singh, alleged that while covering the protest Kashyap was ‘wounded by miscreants’. A complaint filed by Kashyap’s father, Ram Dulare Kashyap, claims that Kashyap was “shot at” for filming a VIP convoy that killed farmers.

Another journalist said that in addition to being shot in the hand, Kashyap was hit by a car that was allegedly carrying Mishra’s son, Ashsih Misra. Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of Indian farmers' unions protesting against the agricultural laws, also claimed that a vehicle carrying Ashish Misra ran over the protesting farmers, killing at least eight people. An FIR has been lodged against Ashish Mishra and 15 others for murder and inciting violence with Lakhimpur Kheri police.

The Indian journalist fraternity has strongly condemned the killing of the journalist. The Editors Guild of India called for a “court-led special investigation team” to investigate the case. The Lucknow Journalists’ Association wrote a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary seeking justice. Local journalists are demanding compensation and the immediate arrest of the accused in the case.

About the Human Rights Defenders: Mr. Gigraj Verma is a resident of the village Joharli in Sikar district of Rajasthan. He is a human rights defender and has worked with Dalit communities in the region for several years and has been active in getting legal help and representation for Dalit victims of atrocities. He has also worked with several organisations such as CORO India and Action Aid in programmes and projects aimed at empowering Dalit and marginalized communities. Background of the Incident: Mr. Verma helped victims of Dalit atrocities register cases against the perpetrators with relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. In this year, for instance, he has helped with the registration of three such FIRs: No 375/2021 with the Neem Ka Thana police station, FIR 391/2021 with the Ajitgadh police station and FIR 228/2021 with the Neem Ka Thana police station. The persons against whom the FIRs were registered belong to the dominant caste group in the region. Details of the Incident: Around 8 PM on August 20, 2021, Mr. Verma was at his residence along with his family when a group of approximately 8-10 persons comprising members of the Gurjar caste surrounded his residence. They were armed with sticks, axes and other weapons and had arrived with the intent to kill the HRD. The crowd initially hurled casteist abused on the HRD and his family. Hearing the abuses, the HRD called the police station multiple times during this period. Inspector Mr. Kastoor Verma was present at the police station and attended the call. Despite informing him of the crowd outside his home and the gravity of the situation, no help was sent immediately. The HRD and his sisters went outside and saw the group, who were armed. The group then beat up the HRD and his sisters. They even snatched the HRD’s gold chain and took it away with them while leaving. They also threatened to kill the HRD, if he were to leave his home. Hearing the commotion, neighbours of the HRD came out of their homes, and the group left the HRD. The HRD and his family went back to their home. A larger group, of around 18-20 persons of the Gurjar caste, returned around 8.30 PM and tried to break the HRD’s door. The HRD and his family then shouted for help. Hearing their plea, residents of his village came to help. Seeing the villagers come out of their homes, the assailants stopped their attempt to break in but openly threatened the family with death if they left their home. Around 8.45 PM, the HRD called the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr. Girdhari Lal Sharma and the Superintendent of Police Mr. Kuwar Rastradeep. The police finally arrived after 10 PM. According to the HRD, the police even went to the homes of the persons whom he had identified but did not arrest them. The police returned. The HRD then went to the Neem Ka Thana police station along with others around 11.30 PM and stayed there. They found the Inspector Mr. Verma to be in an inebriated state and the HRD even posted about this on Twitter tagging the Sikar Police’s Twitter handle. The HRD’s complaint was filed at the Neem Ka Thana police station the same night, which was then registered as an FIR (No. 0411/2021) at 2.36 AM on August 21, 2021. In his statement, the HRD was able to identify 18 people in the group that attacked him and his family and stated there were 7-8 people he did not know. The police applied sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 379 (theft), 504 (intentional insult to prove breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989: Section 3(1)(r) – Intentionally insults or humiliates in any place within public view, Section 3(1)(s) – Deliberately insults or humiliates by caste name in public view and Section 3(2)(va). No arrests have made in the case yet. On August 21, 2021, an FIR was registered (FIR No. 0375/2021) against the HRD and two others (Vinod Saini and Sarjeet Mahrania) by the police at the Neem Ka Thana police station. The FIR has been registered by Mukesh Kumar, a constable at the police station. The HRD and others were charged under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant), 353 (assaults or use of criminal force on a public servant), 342 (wrongfully confining a person), 341 (wrongful restraint), 188 (disobedience to order by public servant), 269 (Negligent act known to be likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act which may spread disease), 186 (obstructing public servant), 189 (threat of injury to public servant). The FIR states that the HRD along with 50-60 people sat outside the police station and blocked the gate stating that they would not leave the premises until the perpetrators were arrested and they resorted to crowding, pushing, and shoving as well as told the police officials that they would not be allowed to leave until the perpetrators were arrested. The HRD and along with others were protesting outside the police station due to the inaction of the police in registering a complaint and arresting the members identified by Mr. Verma in the group that assaulted him and his family. The FIR registered by the police states that the HRD and others started their protest started at 10 AM on August 21, 2021. Police officials had nearly eight hours to initiate immediate action against members of the group, which prompted a protest from the HRD and others. The HRD and the others were only demanding that the police take swift action against the crime. The quantum of punishment that the sections in the FIR against the HRD is as much if not more than the punishment laid down in the sections that the perpetrators of the caste atrocity have been charged with.

On September 7, the Uttar Pradesh police filed an FIR against journalist Rana Ayyub at the Indirapuram police station. It was based on a complaint by Vikas Sankrityayan, co-founder of Hindu IT Cell, a Hindu supremacist group with a talent for targeted harassment.

Sankrityayan accused Ayyub of “illegally acquiring money from the general public in the name of charity” on Ketto, a crowdfunding website. He added that the Washington Post opinion writer violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, or FCRA, because she was a “journalist by profession” and was “receiving foreign money without any approval certificate or registration from the government”.

Ayyub was booked under four sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with dishonest misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust and cheating. She was also booked under section 66D of the IT Act, which criminalises cheating by personation, section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The journalist has raised money for three relief campaigns on Ketto since early 2020 for those affected by Covid, floods and the migrant crisis caused by last year’s lockdown. In an email on August 27, 2021, Ketto told donors of Ayyub’s campaigns that she had raised Rs 2.69 crore, of which she spent Rs 1.25 crore and would pay Rs 90 lakh in taxes.

“The balance funds, after these debts, are still retained by the campaigner,” the platform said, adding that the collection was being investigated by “Indian law enforcement” agencies which suspected that the funds "were not utilised for the purpose for which they were raised”.

Ketto did not disclose if the law enforcement agencies had given the platform any evidence to support the allegations. A questionnaire sent to Varun Sheth, the founder and CEO of Ketto, did not elicit a response.

This is not the first FIR filed against Ayyub this year. In June, the Ghaziabad police booked her for tweeting out a Muslim man’s allegations of assault by a Hindu mob. She had moved the Bombay High Court and obtained protection from arrest for four weeks.

In a Twitter statement on Sunday, Ayyub called the latest FIR “baseless” and “malicious” and maintained that the “entire donation received through Ketto is accounted for and not a single paisa has been misused”.

She implied that the money from the fundraisers had gone into her personal account. “The receipt of donations did not violate any law,” the journalist added. “My accounts and the donations have both been scrutinised by the IT department, and a fair investigation will bring out the truth for all.”

Locus standi?

In his complaint to the Ghaziabad police, Sankrityayan didn’t claim to be an aggrieved party, that is, he did not say he had donated money to Ayyub’s fundraisers and, so, had stakes in the alleged FCRA violation.

We contacted Sankrityayan for clarification, but he wouldn’t comment. “Newslaundry is a biased, anti-Hindu news portal,” he declared. “I’m not going to talk to you.”

He, however, told the Print that he had found “proof” for his police complaint.

We put the same question to Abhay Kumar Mishra, the circle officer at the Indirapuram police station. “You should pose this query to the complainant,” he replied. “I can’t comment on whether he is an affected party. We are investigating the case.”

‘There are two violations’

According to lawyer Vikas Pahwa, Ayyub’s fundraisers violated the FCRA on two counts. “First, she did not have a registration certificate from the government,” Pahwa said. “And she seems to have accepted the funds in her personal account.”

Section 11 of the FCRA states that no person can accept foreign contributions unless they “obtain a certificate of registration or prior permission of the central government”.

Pooja Madhan, a chartered accountant at the Delhi firm Pooja Jagdish and Associates, told Newslaundry that FCRA applies to individuals . “As per section 2(1)(m) of the FCRA, “person” includes “an individual”, so the provisions of the FCRA also apply to an individual”, she said, adding that Ayyub was not eligible to receive foreign contributions if she wasn’t registered under the FCRA.

In her statement, Ayyub did not state whether she had prior permission to accept funds from foreign donors, or whether she was registered under the law. Newslaundry reached out to Ayyub as well as her lawyer Vrinda Grover for comment. Ayyub did not respond, and Grover declined to comment.

The FCRA, Pahwa said, was designed to give the government control over foreign contributions. “It crystallises a couple of things,” the lawyer explained, “that if you receive a foreign contribution you have to put it in a special account that the state can monitor. You can’t put it in your personal account. You also cannot transfer that contribution to anyone else.”

On the other point of the controversy – of funds remaining unused in the journalist’s account – Pahwa said the FCRA was silent. “If a person accepts foreign contributions for a particular purpose and a part of it is achieved, it does not mean that the person is under an obligation to return the contribution,” he noted. “He or she can still continue to work on the same lines, especially if the objective is public service.”

As for likely punishment for a violation, section 35 of the FCRA prescribes an “imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both”. “‘Or’ is an important word here,” Pahwa explained. “It is not an ‘and’. The court will not necessarily imprison a violator. It has the option of only imposing a fine.”

‘Enough to initiate proceedings’

Anshu Bhanot, a commercial litigator, told Newslaundry that the way Ayyub raised the money would enable the Indian law enforcement agencies to initiate legal proceedings against her. “The moment money from foreign donors comes into a personal account, only the account holder has control over it,” Bhanot explained. “Ayyub will have to explain what she did with the money. Whether the agencies are able to establish an FCRA violation would depend on the material presented in court.”

The onus to prove the money wasn’t misused, however, would be on Ayyub. “That is the sad part in the judicial system,” he said. “In criminal law the onus is on the prosecution. But the moment a proceeding is initiated, this becomes a theoretical aspect. Even if the case is ultimately quashed, there are no repercussions for bodies like the Enforcement Directorate, the Crime Branch, and there are few precedents for it.”

Sarwar Raza, an advocate who specialises in taxation law and FCRA, said Ayyub could not be charged with violating the law if the donors were Indian citizens living abroad. It would count as a violation only if they were foreign citizens.

“If she accepted the money in personal capacity and was not associated with an NGO with an FCRA licence or did not have prior permission from the government, then there is probably some kind of violation,” he said. “It would help her case if she doesn’t utilise a single rupee from the collections anymore. It would be seen as a bonafide step.”

‘FCRA violations are compoundable’

In May this year, Ayyub announced on Ketto that she had tried to tie up with an Indian NGO that had FCRA permissions. “But owing to restrictions on physical movement during the pandemic and the lockdowns,” she wrote, “we have not been able to find a suitable donor to trust to channelize the benevolence.”

She also declared that her team would be returning the money from foreign donors because of the “hit jobs by propaganda websites targeting our relief work”. “To make sure we do not cause inconvenience to the donors and us,” she added, “I have decided to refund all contributions from foreign donors back to those who donated.”

Raza said Ayyub’s pledge to return money to foreign donors was a sensible decision. “FCRA violations are compoundable,” he explained. “If she has violated any provision, the fact that she claims to have returned the money makes a case for compounding the matter. If your action has violated a law and you undo the act, it can be condoned if you pay a penalty. But the discretion will rest with the government.”

For Bhanot, returning funds to foreign donors would not absolve Ayyub of alleged wrongdoing. “It could be a tricky stand as the courts might interpret this as an admission of guilt or a desperate measure to wriggle out from the criminal liability.”

Anand Mangnale, the former director of Our Democracy, an online crowdfunding platform, said if Ayyub transferred the collections to her own account, she would have to pay taxes. “Even if you’re a journalist, if you pay taxes on the money you raised and explain how you spent it, then it is not a violation of FCRA,” Mangnale said. “The email Ketto sent to her donors, however, claimed she had unspent money in her bank account – and that is a triggering point.”

In her statement, Ayyub said she had paid a “heavy amount of tax on the donations”, directed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, or CBDT.

Madhan, however, told Newslaundry paying tax on the money would not make a difference. “Since FCRA and Income Tax Act are different laws, paying income tax on foreign contributions will not suo moto lead to complying with FCRA provisions,” she said.

‘Ignorance of law’

According to Raza, FCRA violations were commonplace and often went unnoticed. “But with big amounts or big names, like Rana Ayyub, they won’t,” he said.

Section 3 of the FCRA specifically bars “correspondents”, “columnists”, “editors” of registered newspapers from accepting any foreign contribution. This also applies to “correspondents”, “columnists” and “editors” of a company “engaged in the production or broadcast of audio news or audio visual news or current affairs programmes through any electronic mode, or any other electronic form” as defined in the IT Act, 2000 or “any other mode of mass communication”.

Though this seemingly covers Ayyub, Raza said the journalist could still defend herself by arguing that she didn’t raise the money for any “journalistic activity”.

Raza pointed out that Vikas Sankrityayan, the complainant, wasn’t a donor in Ayyub’s campaign and so did not have a locus standi. “Ideally, it should have been the ministry of home affairs that initiated the proceeding, not an individual with no stakes in the matter,” the advocate said. “This can be an argument in court.”

But Bhanot disagreed. “Anybody can lodge a complaint and highlight an alleged wrongdoing,” he said. “The complainant in such matters would be more of an informant of the alleged offence, and not a complainant who would be allowed to intervene in the trial. In such FIRs, the state steps into the shoes of the complainant and takes over as prosecution.”

Pahwa, on the other hand, argued that Ayyub could defend herself on two counts. “One is the ignorance of law – a plea people make in such cases,” he said. “Rana Ayyub is a renowned journalist, so I don’t know if that plea would work for her. But she can also claim that she raised the money during Covid, when many were suffering and needed help. In those circumstances, she was out to provide aid rather than thinking about compliance with law.”

The Enforcement Directorate Thursday conducted searches at offices and residential premises associated with social activist Harsh Mander, in connection with a case of alleged money laundering.

The ED’s case is based on another case registered by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing against the Centre for Equity Studies (CES), where Mander is a director.

An ED official confirmed the agency was conducting searches at premises associated with Mander, but did not give details of the probe against him. The searches, sources said, were conducted at Adchini, Mehrauli and Vasant Kunj in South Delhi.

“Searches are going on. Our case is based on the Delhi Police FIR in the matter,” an ED official said.

Mander had left for Germany around 3.30 am on Thursday on a fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin. The board of the CES, in a statement, said they were committed to cooperating with the ongoing searches, and would provide all necessary information to the ED.

Delhi Police had registered two cases against CES — one under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and another over alleged financial irregularities — following a raid conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) last October at two children’s homes run by the centre. NCPCR had alleged various irregularities, including financial, in the running of the two homes at the time.

In July this year, in response to a petition in the Delhi High Court by CES, the NCPCR had said it had recommended action against the two children’s homes linked to Mander only after finding various violations and discrepancies on the part of the management. Among the alleged violations, NCPCR mentioned that it had been informed by the children that they were taken to protest sites, including Jantar Mantar.

“During the inspection, prima facie many violations of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and its Model Rules, 2016, and various other irregularities came to the notice of NCPCR, including financial irregularities as the institution was reluctant in disclosing their sources of funding and other relevant document to the inspection team,” NCPCR said in the reply.

With regard to the boys’ home, the NCPCR told the court that an employee had “informed” it about cases of child sexual abuse being reported there, and inaction by the management.

“The Commission observed this to be a gross violation of the provisions of the POCSO Act, 2012, and had immediately reported this to Delhi Police for further investigation as well,” it said.

In a statement, the CES board said the ED search was “a continuation of harassment and coercion of CES and Harsh Mander for being an outspoken and passionate defender of human rights”.

It said, “As you are aware, the Enforcement Directorate has been conducting raids at the office of the Centre for Equity Studies (CES), Umeed Ghar (Children’s Home), and Harsh Mander’s residence from 9.30 am… Over the last several months, the organisation has been subjected to raids, investigations, and inquiries by different government agencies including Delhi Police, and NCPCR. CES has cooperated with every government agency by providing all organisational details requested…including balance sheets and other financial and programmatic documents…

“It is deeply distressing for the entire team of CES and this continued harassment has created hurdles in the path of our organisational vision of working for the poorest of the poor and most marginalised sections of society.”

On Thursday morning, employees who reached the CES office in Adchini after the searches started, were not allowed inside. They said most of their work involved research pertaining to human rights.

A statement signed by 565 signatories, including several activists and public intellectuals, condemned the ED action and said the searches were part of a “continuing chain of abuse of state institutions” to silence its critics.

The signatories include Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed, economist Jean Dreze, senior advocate Indira Jaising, DU professor Apoorvanand, women’s activists Kavita Krishnan and Annie Raja, social and environmental activist Medha Patkar, and former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro.

The home ministry has suspended the foreign funding licence of a prominent Kerala-based NGO linked to influential Sunni leader from the state, Sheikh Aboobacker Ahmed, after detecting violation of provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA). The suspension of FCRA registration bars Markazul Ighasathil Kairiyathil Hindiyya – the top foreign-funded entity in Kozhikode, with over Rs 146-crore receipts from abroad in the last three years – from receiving funding from international donors without prior permission or till revocation of the suspension order. The association, funded mostly by charities based in the Gulf, can make a representation against the suspension order, following which the home ministry may either review the suspension or go ahead with permanent cancellation of its FCRA registration after a 180-day period, extendable by another 180 days. The prime violations cited by MHA in its suspension order issued on August 27, 2021 include misutilisation and diversion of foreign contributions by Markazul, which also operates under the brand ‘Relief and Charitable Foundation of India (RCFI)’; misrepresentation of facts; and failure to submit annual FCRA returns for the year 2019-20. A senior functionary of the NGO confirmed to TOI that the association had received the suspension order. “Some clerical errors are cited as reasons for suspension. We will clarify everything after a careful reading of the order,” he said. The suspension of Markazul’s FCRA licence followed a due inquiry process, with an MHA questionnaire sent to it on 05.04.2018. A government official told TOI that the reply to the questionnaire revealed that the association had violated Section 12(4)(a)(vi), Section 18 and Section 19 of the FCRA. According to sources, a foreign contribution amount of Rs 50 lakh withdrawn by the NGO for purchase of land was received back on 13.01.2015 upon cancellation of the land deal. This amount was however not deposited in the foreign contribution-designated bank account, but retained in cash in the NGO’s office. Markazul claimed Rs 50-lakh cash was distributed for its orphan care programme. However enquiry and NGO’s records showed that Rs 50 lakh cash was distributed between July 2014 and December 2014, before the amount was received back on 13.01.2015. “Hence the amount of Rs 50 lakh received on account of cancelled land deed is not accounted for and appears to have been diverted/misutilized,” the order said adding this was a violation of Section 12(4)(a)(vi), 18 and 19 of the FCRA, 2010. The order also points to purchase of a vehicle in name of an individual and not the association, citing it as another violation of Section 12(4)(a)(vi) of FCRA. It further stated that the NGO had utilised foreign funds for construction of a building on land taken on lease by Islamic Education Board of India from Waqf Board of India. The MHA cited utilisation of foreign contribution for creation of assets on land on which the association has no claim, as a “violation of Section 12(4)(a)(vi) of the Act”. Markazul also failed to file its annual returns for the year 2019-20, a violation of Section 18 of FCRA. A Markazul official told TOI that the “online window” for filing annual returns was closed just before they could upload the returns. Markazul was founded in 2000 as a vision of Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, a popular figure with politicians in Kerala and referred to as ‘Grand Mufti of India’ by supporters. The organisation, which has Aboobacker's son Muhammed Abdul Hakkim as its general secretary, works in fields like education, cultural restoration, disaster management, health and sanitation, etc. It claims presence in 24 states and runs 233 schools.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Nitesh Alawa works as a patwari (revenue officer) in the village of Badi Khattal in Jobat tehsil of Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Alawa has been active in the advocating for the rights of Adivasis in the region and has in the past raised his voice against atrocities committed against the Adivasi communities. Mr. Alawa is the district president, Alirajpur of the Madhya Pradesh Patwari Union, the Media In-charge of Tribal Employees-Officers Organization and is the district vice president of the Sched- uled Caste-Scheduled Tribe Officer Employee Organization.

Background of the Incident: On May 13, 2021, five members of an Adivasi family, including three minors were murdered in Nemawar village in Madhya Pradesh by members of the dominant caste community. Their bodies were buried on the farm of one of the accused and were discovered on June 29, 2021, 48 days after the crime. The incident triggered several large protests in the region by organisations against the lackadaisical attitude of the police and the administration in investigating the murders.

Details of the Incident: On July 4, 2021, and July 11, 2021, Mr. Alawa attended peaceful citizen protests in Nemawar and Manpur respectively. Both were Sundays. The third protest in Kasarvad was held on July 14, a Wednesday. Mr. Alawa was present as a promoter of Adivasi rights at the protests and expressed peaceful dissent against the administration’s han- dling of the case. On July 15, 2021, Mr. Alawa received an order suspending him from his work under Rule 3(1), 5 (1), 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 and Rule 9 of the M.P. Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, which authorizes suspensions pending disciplinary actions.

The order stated that it had come to the administration’s notice that he had made incendiary and inflammatory speeches at Adivasi meetings held in the village of Nemawar in Devas district, village Manpur in Indore district and village Kasarvad in Khargone district. The order stated that the speeches made by Mr. Alawa featured in videos that went ‘viral’ on social media.

After a court battle, the workers were getting salaries even after the mill shut down. But on June 29, the company put up an order stating all the workers will have to take VRS and put a deadline of July 13.

The Dadar police Friday detained several unemployed mill workers of Century Yarn & Denim Mills in Madhya Pradesh along with social activist Medha Patkar, while they were protesting against the company at its headquarters in Worli.

The protestors were let off at night.

Over 50 people, including unemployed workers, had come from MP to take part in the protest.

“After a court battle, the workers were getting salaries even after the mill shut down. But on June 29, the company put up an order stating all the workers will have to take VRS and put a deadline of July 13. We want the company to give workers back their employment by reopening the mill,” Jagdish Khairaliya of Shramik Janta Sangh said.

Around 200 policemen from four different districts - Khargone, Khandwa, Burhanpur and Dhar - assembled at the protest site outside the factory premises. The SDM in-charge stated that Section 144 of the CrPC was in force in the area and the protestors had to leave and vacate the protest site immediately. The workers refused to leave the area. Then the police manhandled and roughed up workers, physically picking up each worker and pushing them into vehicles brought by them. When the police ran out of vehicles, private buses were organised to put protestors inside. Nearly 600 protestors were picked and transported out of which around 200 were just left on the road. Many women HRDs were injured, and one was even admitted by the police to the hospital where she was kept in the intensive care unit as she had fainted. The injuries were not only sustained during the police action but also due to the reckless driving of the drivers of the vehicles in which women were transported. In all 331 men were transported to ITI School in Kasrawad, where they were detained and let go at midnight. Around 70 women were transported to Saski Mahavidyalaya, where they were detained till 10 p.m.

The protest site and tents where workers had been camping for years were demolished and their belongings confiscated. The protestors have still not got their belongings despite a detailed list having been sent by the protestors to the SDM. It is crucial to note that the police personnel present at the protest site did not have name tags or badges on while acting against peaceful protestors. The protestors have not been provided a copy of the FIR, however they have learnt Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code has been invoked, carries a sentence for punishment of up to six months imprisonment, if five or more persons knowingly join or continue any assembly likely to cause a disturbance of the public peace, after such assembly has been lawfully commanded to disperse.

Two Right to Information (RTI) activists have been killed in separate incidents within a week in Karnataka.

While T Shridhar (40) was attacked with iron rods and bricks by a group of assailants on Thursday, July 15, in Harapanahalli town in Vijayanagara district, Venkatesh S (43), a resident of Tavarekere, was attacked on the same day in Bengaluru. Shridhar was rushed to the hospital, however, he succumbed to his injuries on on Thursday. Whereas, Venkatesh passed away on Sunday.

Venkatesh was brutally attacked by unknown assailants in Magadi Road of Southwest Bengaluru. According to police, five armed, motorcycle-borne assailants attacked the activist near his farmland and fled.

While the investigation into the case is ongoing, a senior police officer from Tavarekere police station told indianexpress.com, that by preliminary investigation, it looks like “a revenge attack”.

A group of 5 men came in 3 scooters and kept honking near his farm land at Tavarakere where Mr. Venkatesh had his office. When he came out to see the people who were honking, they got down from the scooters, attacked him and chopped his right hand and right leg. While Mr. Venkatesh was shouting in pain, passer-by from the neighbouring Ashram and his brother heard his cries. The assaulters then ran away.

His brother and others called an ambulance and rushed him to hospital. Doctors operated Venkatesh, and he was declared to be out of danger. On July 15, 2021, the police registered a FIR 233/2021, U/s- 307 and 34 against unknown people. In the statement given to the police, Mr. Venkatesh stated that this attack was due to the RTI application filed by him against the following land surveys i.e. Yelachaguppe survey No. 116 land encroachment, survey no. 60, Tavaraekere, Yelachaguppe survey No. 18/1, Yelachaguppe Rampura survey No. 04, Tavaraekere Gangammana lake, survey no. 60 Yelachaguppe. These RTIs related to developmental activities in the locality. His family also corroborated the same.

On July 18, 2021, Mr. Venkatesh was taken to Hosmat Hospital, Bengaluru where he underwent extensive surgery to reattach his right arm and leg. He was later admitted to the Bangalore Sagar Hospital. However, he died on Sunday, July 18, 2021. After his death the Article 302 IPC was added and 9 people were arrested. On July 19, 2021, the Bangalore police said in its press statement that it could be a revenge attack but didn’t mention it was because of his RTI activism.

T Shridhar (40) was attacked with iron rods and bricks by a group of assailants on Thursday, July 15, in Harapanahalli town in Vijayanagara district.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Murthi Rao, Deputy Superintendent of Harapanahalli town police, said, “Shridhar was allegedly attacked by four unidentified persons, armed with lethal weapons, when he was having tea on the backside of a canteen in a college compound in Harapanahalli Thursday night.”

“The investigation is based on a complaint registered by the victim’s wife. An FIR has been registered under Section 302 (murder) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” he said. Rao added that Shridhar’s wife, Sheela, has alleged that he was killed because he used to file RTIs, which did not go down well with some people.

The complaint filed by Shridhar’s wife mentions the name of Congress MLA P T Parameshar Naik’s son Bharath. Bharath had posed a death threat to her husband, Sheela has stated.

The Harapanahalli police have arrested four to five suspects in the case, whose identities are yet to be revealed as the investigation is ongoing.

On July 13, 2021. Mr. T. Shridhar called his wife Shilpa and informed her that he feels his life is under threat as he has filed a case against Mr. Bharath, the son of a politician Mr. PT Parameshwara Naik and HK Halees, also a relative of a powerful politician, for land encroachment.

An FIR No. 0108/2021 was filed under IPC U/s – 34, 302 (Murder) at the Harapanahalli Police station and 5 people along with Vagish were arrested for murder. However, no action has been taken against the people against whom, associated with powerful politicians, Mr. Shridhar expressed feared for his life. He had already expressed this fear of his life being at stake due to RTIs filed by him against relatives of powerful politicians.

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have opened a case against the family members of late resistance leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani under a harsh anti-terror law for allegedly raising anti-India slogans and wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag, officials say.

Geelani, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, was the emblem of Kashmir’s defiance against New Delhi and had been under house arrest for years. The officials said they opened the case on Sunday.

His son, Naseem, told Al Jazeera the Indian authorities buried Geelani’s body in a local cemetery without any family members present after police snatched his body from the home. Police denied that and called it “baseless rumours” by “some vested interests”.

A video widely shared on social media purportedly showed Geelani’s relatives, mostly women, frantically trying to prevent armed police from forcing their way into the room where his body, wrapped in a Pakistani flag, was being kept.

The video showed women wailing and screaming as police took the body and locked his family and relatives inside the room.

Police said they registered a case against unspecified family members and some others on Saturday and began probing the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. They have not yet been taken into custody.

In India, booking of a case by the police may not necessarily lead to a formal charge but is an incident that is officially recorded.

Critics say bookings under the vaguely worded UAPA legislation have been used across the country to intimidate or silence opposing voices, calling the law draconian.

The anti-terror law was amended in 2019 to allow the government to designate an individual as a terrorist. Police can detain a person for six months without producing any evidence, and the accused can subsequently be imprisoned for up to seven years.

Geelani’s son Naseem on Sunday said a police officer visited the family on Saturday and informed them a case had been registered. Naseem did not provide further details about the meeting but said there were scuffles as the police removed his father’s body.

“Amid the chaos, we didn’t really know what was happening. We were mourning,” said Naseem.

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which administer parts of the Himalayan region while claiming it entirely.

Geelani spearheaded Indian-administered Kashmir’s movement for the right to self-determination and was a staunch proponent of merging India’s only Muslim-majority region with Pakistan.

For many in Kashmir and beyond, he was an enduring icon of defiance against India.

In a tweet on Sunday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan slammed India’s removal and hasty burial of Geelani’s body as well as the case against the family, calling it “shameful”.

“Snatching the body of the 92 year old Syed Ali Geelani, one of the most respected & principled Kashmiri ldrs (sic), & then registering cases against his family is just another shameful example of India’s descent into fascism under the Nazi-inspired RSS-BJP govt,” Khan posted, referring to India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its far-right ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

India describes the armed rebellion as Islamabad’s proxy war and state-sponsored terrorism. Most Muslim Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle and support the rebel goal that the territory be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. The region is one of the most heavily militarised in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the raging conflict.

Tensions flared in the region in 2019 after New Delhi stripped Kashmir’s semi-autonomy, scrapped its statehood and removed inherited protections on land and jobs.

Authorities have since brought a slew of new laws, which critics and many Kashmiris fear could change the region’s demographics.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, authorities eased some restrictions that had been imposed since Geelani’s death, allowing private vehicles on roads and vendors to operate in some parts of Srinagar.

However, most shops and businesses stayed closed as government forces patrolled roads and streets in the city.

Mobile phones were restored late on Friday but mobile internet and restrictions on the assembly of people continued in many parts of the Kashmir valley.

Paramilitary soldiers remained stationed outside the graveyard where Geelani was buried.

Ruwa Shah, Geelani’s granddaughter, wrote on Twitter they were horrified by “what followed after our old man passed away.”

His “home was a jail for over a decade and now his graveyard is a jail too,” she wrote.

Four Kashmir-based journalists, including a senior editor, were raided on Wednesday and later detained at a police station in Srinagar in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case that was filed by Jammu and Kashmir Police last year.

Rights activists see the detentions as part of a wider crackdown by the Narendra Modi government on the free media in Kashmir after Article 370 was read down in 2019 and the erstwhile state divided into two union territories.

At least four journalists have been booked under the anti-terror law since 2019 by the J&K Police, and several others in Kashmir claim to face obstruction and harassment by officials in their line of work.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international non-profit based in Paris, condemned the latest detentions, saying that journalism was not a crime.

In a tweet, the RSF said it “condemns as crude intimidation this morning’s police raids at the residence of 4 journalists – @KashmirNarrator editor Showkat Matta, @trtworld & @HuffPost’s @mirhilaal, and freelancers @AzharQadri and Abbas Shah. #JournalismIsNotACrime.”

Officials said the residences of Motta, Hilal, Abbas and Azhar in Srinagar were raided simultaneously by teams of police and paramilitary forces on Wednesday. They have been asked to reappear for questioning on Thursday.

Motta is the editor of Kashmir Narrator magazine whose journalist, Aasif Sultan, has been jailed since 2018. Hilal is a freelancer who was previously working with Hindustan Times at its Delhi office. His work appears in Turkey-based TRT World and Anadolu agency.

Abbas is associated with a Srinagar-based daily and Qadri is a freelancer whose work has appeared in The Tribune and The Guardian. All four live in Srinagar and the raids took place simultaneously in the early morning hours.

“They seized a hard drive which contained my work, a desktop, hardcopies of the magazine’s archives and phones. I was later taken to the police station and set free in the evening,” Motta, 52, said, adding that he has been asked to return for questioning on Thursday.

Police claimed to have seized several documents and electronic devices belonging to the journalists and their spouses during the raids, which lasted for several hours. The journalists were detained for the whole day at Kothi Bagh police station.

“They showed me the warrant but they were very polite. At the police station, a cop noted my basic details and then asked to wait. No one spoke with me the whole day. I was not informed about the charges against me,” another detained journalist, who didn’t want to be named, told The Wire.

According to the police, the detentions were made in connection with a case filed last year against unknown persons at Srinagar’s Kothi Bagh police station (FIR No. 82/2020) under Section 13 of the UAPA and 506 IPC.

Section 13 of UAPA deals with suspects who “advocate, abet, advise or incite the commission of any unlawful activity” while 506 IPC is filed in the cases of “criminal intimidation”.

The case was filed against the unknown handlers of a blog (kashmirfight.wordpress.com) which has been issuing death threats against Kashmir-based journalists and political activists, accusing them of acting as the “collaborators” of New Delhi.

The names of senior editor Shujaat Bukhari and human rights lawyer Babar Qadri had also figured in the articles posted on the blog before their assassination in 2018 and 2020. The two killings were linked by investigators to Pakistan-based militant outfits.

“These posts uploaded on the said URL are prejudicial to the integrity, the sovereignty of country and maintenance of peace and tranquillity as the handler of the above-said URL is propagating secessionist and terror-related ideology with the intention to achieve the goal of separating UT of J&K from Union of India,” a police spokesperson said in a statement last year.

In May this year, the Kothi Bagh police station filed another case (FIR No. 41/2021) under similar sections of UAPA after another post on the blog issued threats to social activists, government officers, political leaders and journalists.

The J&K Police claimed to have made a breakthrough in the case in July by arresting Mohammad Akbar Sofi, a top officer in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, his son Nazish Yasrab Rehman, daughter Tabish Akbar Rehman, fiancé of Sofi’s daughter Javed Khalid, and Rafiq Mukhdoomi, a law student in Srinagar.

The latest detentions in the case took place barely a day after the blog, which has been banned by the Government of India, issued fresh threats against the owners of four English newspapers and an Urdu daily published from Srinagar.

After the reading down of Article 370, local print media in Kashmir have stopped critical coverage of the government, fearing reprisal in the form of harassment, intimidation and curtailment of advertisements.

According to the RSF, which ranked India at 142 out of 180 countries in terms of media freedom, press freedom has significantly shrunk in the country following Modi’s re-election in 2019.

“India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly. They are exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” the RSF said in its latest report.

Since the last two years, the UN special rapporteur for protection of right to freedom of expression has written on at least three occasions to the Government of India over the reports of “arbitrary detentions and intimidation of journalists” in Kashmir .

In its latest communication sent to the Indian government on June 3 which was made public on August 25, the UN Rapporteur flagged the alleged incidents of harassment of Kashmir-based journalists Fahad Shah, Qazi Shibli, Sajad Gul and Auqib Javeed.

The letter also mentioned the closure of the office of the Kashmir Times newspaper.

“We express serious concern at the reported acts of harassment and seemingly arbitrary detention and criminal proceedings and detentions levied or imposed against the aforementioned journalists, which is reportedly related to their journalistic activities on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” the letter reads.

Senior BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said Sunday that a farmer who had been injured in the police lathicharge in Karnal on Saturday has died of a heart attack.

“Sushil Kajal, who owned one and a half acres of land, had been participating in the farmers’ agitation for the past nine months. He had suffered serious injuries in the police lathi charge at Karnal Toll Plaza yesterday and at night he succumbed to a heart attack… The farming community will always remember his sacrifice,” Chaduni said in a tweet on Sunday.

The Haryana Police had Saturday cracked down on farmers protesting in Karnal, leaving several injured in a lathi charge at the Bastara Toll Plaza on the national highway.

The farmers had been protesting against a BJP meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on the upcoming panchayat polls. Police detained several people using force to disperse a crowd that was blocking the highway in Karnal in the afternoon.

Condemning the police action, farm union leaders urged farmers across Haryana to protest on the roads. By evening, farmers blocked several stretches on the highway and toll plazas across the state, resulting in traffic snarls.

With farmers threatening to create more blockades in neighbouring states as well, vehicles were diverted via alternative routes. Later, however, the highways were reopened after police released the activists detained in Karnal.