Karnataka based Hindutva group Hindu Jagarana Vedike on Thursday assaulted and manhandled a Muslim journalist who had gone to cover a protest organised by the group. Members of the group were protesting the demolition of temples in Mysuru.

According to local media reports, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike members had called for a protest “the demolition of temples, especially the Adishakti Mahadevamma temple at Huchgani village in Nanjangud taluk”. However, they turned on and assaulted journalist Mohammed Safdar Kaiser, the chief editor of Urdu daily, The Daily Kausar who was recording the “confrontation of MLA SA Ramadas by the protesters”. Some members of the right-wing group reportedly took objection to Kaiser video recording the incident and manhandled him.

A #Mysuru based #Urdu newspaper journalist was allegedly attacked by pro-Hindu activists at the #Hindu Jagarana Vedike protest venue on Thursday. The Hindu Jagaran Vedike members were protesting against the demolition of temples in the city. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/797RaRN88G

— Darshan Devaiah B P (@DarshanDevaiahB) September 17, 2021

News reports stated that even though the police personnel present at the protest site tried to rescue the journalist from being manhandled the Hindutva mob continued to assault him. The police eventually managed to take Kaiser to a safe space, and he later lodged a complaint at Deveraja Police Station. The Mysore District Journalist Association (MDJA) has written to the Commissioner of Police seeking action against the assailants and more security for journalists.

#Mysuru district journalist association condemns attack on a Urdu newspaper journalist, who was assaulted while reporting a protest of Hindu Jagarana Vedike against demolition of temple. Writes to @CPMysuru demanding to take action against culprits. pic.twitter.com/8M1WnolHhK

— Karthik K K (@Karthiknayaka) September 16, 2021

The Vedike’s South India Convenor Jagadish Karanth has in fact given a “10-day deadline” to the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to “initiate action against officers responsible for the demolition of the Huchagani Mahadevamma temple in Mysuru” reported News Karnataka portal. He said if the CM does not take any action the outfit will launch a protest march to his residence”. 

Karanth ‘warned’ that “this should be the first and last case in the state. The present government is doing what invaders Ghazni, Ghori, Khasim and Tipu Sultan have done to the Hindu temples. This must be ended.” According to a report on the webportal Munsif, Karanth also attacked the Chief Secretary, and told the gathering, “He is giving orders to demolish temples every day according to the media reports. If it is true, he must be really stupid. You must read the Supreme Court order first. It is very clear, vacating the temple is the last option. If it is built before 2008, the temple has to be regularised.” He alleged that the demolition orders were given even though local villagers were “ready to give land for the temple”.

The Hindu Jagaran Vedike members also alleged that the government was only serving notices to Masjids and Christian religious centres but was demolishing Hindu temples without talking to locals and giving any options to shift locations. 

Last week, members of the Vedike had raided the Karkala Pragathi church in Udupi, reported The New Indian Express news reports. They alleged that the priests are involved in a conversion racket. According to news reports the mob barged into the church demanding that prayer meetings be stopped. The pastor, Benedict, complained to the Karkala town police who subsequently registered a case under sections 143, 147, 149, 504, 506, 323 and 354 of IPC. The section of 354 of IPC was invoked as there was an allegation that the Vedike members misbehaved with the women.

According to the news report, Benedict organised prayer meetings at a hall located near Doopadakatte in Karkala earlier. “However, based on a complaint by the public on July 15, 2021, that religious conversion was the motive behind his initiative of organising prayer meetings, a case was registered by the police and he was warned against holding any religious meetings without permission,” said a local news report. The venue was shifted to a hall in Kukkundoor on friday when the HJV group barged in and announced that prior permission from the local police was required to conduct any religious gathering apart from “regular prayer conducted at temples, mosques and churches.” It was reported that the police investigations revealed that a man identified as Sunil alleged that two months ago Benedict “spoke ill about Hinduism and urged him to attend the prayer to be conducted by him.” Based on Sunil’s complaint, a case was registered against Benedict under sections 295A and 298 of IPC for his alleged deliberate act, intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting a religion.

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Journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested on Monday, along with three others at a a toll plaza in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and sedition, reported The Hindu, adding that the First Information Report (FIR) was registered in Mathura on Wednesday.

The four were arrested on Monday when they were driving down from Delhi to Hathras. The FIR lodged against them in the Mant police station charges them under section 124A (sedition) of the IPC, sections 14 and 17 of the UAPA, sections 65, 72 and 76 of the Information Technology Act, for promoting enmity between groups and outraging religious feelings, reported TH. Section 17 of the UAPA deals with raising funds for terrorist acts. 

Kappan, is a journalist who writes for Malayalam portals, and is based in Delhi. The others were identified as Ateeq-ur-Rehman of Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed of Bahraich and Alam of Rampur. According to the news report, sub-inspector Prabal Singh has in the FIR accused the four of carrying pamphlets titled: ‘Justice for Hathras Victim’ and moving towards the district to disrupt peace as part of a “big conspiracy”.

The Uttar Pradesh Police soon after arresting Muslim journalist, 3 others near Hathras, had reportedly claimed that the four men were linked to Campus Front of India, and its parent outfit the Popular Front of India (PFI). In  December 2019, the UP government had alleged PFI involvement in vandalism in the state when the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were underway across India.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) had filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in Supreme Court to produce Journalist Sidhique Kappan, who is the secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi unit, and a senior reporter. He had reportedly gone to cover the Hathras horror of the alleged gangrape, and murder of the 19-year old Dalit woman.

The president of the KUWJ state committee Thiruvananthapuram, KP Reji, had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking Kappan’s immediate release. “Our relentless efforts to contact him were in vain. The Hathras Police Station and the State Police department has not provided any information so far on taking him into custody,” The Hindu quoted Reji’s letter to the PM.  

The Indian Women Press Corps and the Press Association have also condemned Siddique Kappan’arrest. It stated that even though the UP government claims that the journalist has links with some groups it “has not offered any proof in this regard.” 

The UP government had banned the entry of the media in Hathras for two days, denying journalists their right to report the story from Hathras, thereby violating the right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Meanwhile leading journalist groups, and unions have decried the Uttar Pradesh police’s move. They issued statements of solidarity with the arrested colleague, most of the statements were issued before the police charged the arrested journalist under the draconian UAPA.

The IWPC and Press Association demanded Kappan’s immediate release and return of his laptop and mobile phone. The women journalists have decried the UP government’s attempt to silence the media and create an atmosphere of fear by arresting the journalist.

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has also urged that Siddique Kappan, secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi Unit, be released. 

The DUJ added that journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested from Delhi by UP police on August 18, 2020 for a tweet, is still in jail, and have deplored “the tendency to arrest journalists on dubious grounds.” According to the DUJ “arrests of journalists for their views and reportage is a serious infringement of the freedom of the press. We demand the immediate release of all journalists arrested during the lockdown on various pretexts ranging from a tweet to a video report.”

The Press Club of India (PCI) also issued a statement against Siddique Kappan’s arrest by UP Police, and demanded that he “be released without delay.” The PCI stated that it was their apprehension that the Adityanath government, “in line with its clearly stated conspiracy theory as an explanation for the tragic Hathras incident, will employ diversionary tactics to take the focus  away from the many suspicious, possibly criminal, actions of its police and administration and the virtual silence of the political leadership on the Hathras tragedy.”  

The PCI added that there should also be an impartial probe into the allegations of the UP government, and of the police tapping cell phone conversations of journalists covering the gruesome Hathras incident. “This  appears to be a gross violation of the privacy laws, direct interference with the professional work of  journalists, and a blatant infringement of Article 19 of the Constitution as regards free speech” stated PCI.  

The arrest of the Kerala journalist is a pointer that the regime in UP is a further illustration of the ham handed methods used to stop the media from doing its work, they said adding that “inhibiting the media is evidently directed  toward stopping facts from being known in the public sphere.”  

The PCI had also stated that they were worried that the “UP Police may not fight shy of using anti-terrorism provisions  with which to charge the Kerala journalist.”  The PCI’s prediction was proven right within hours. 

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Kerala Union of Working Journalists has filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in Supreme Court to produce Journalist Sidhique Kappan, who has allegedly been taken in custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police near Hathras. According to information available so far, there is no news of Sidhique Kappan, who is a Delhi-based Journalist working with a Malayalam news portal Azhimukham. He is also secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi unit, and a senior reporter. He had gone to cover the Hathras horror of the alleged gangrape, and murder of the 19-year old Dalit woman.

Modi-Yogi plan is clear. Make the rape and murder of a Dalit girl to a Hindu-Muslim issue. That is the reason to arrest a Muslim journalist from Kerala. https://t.co/wnB29R0wOM

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 6, 2020

This is the statement that the Kerala Union of Working Journalists issued on Tuesday:

Mr. Siddique Kappan, secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi unit, and a senior Delhi based journalist working for several Malayalam media houses, including azhimukham.com, had gone to Hathras on Monday morning to cover the present situation in the area. 

We understand that he was taken into police custody by Uttar Pradesh police from Hathras toll plaza. Our efforts and the efforts by some advocates based in Delhi to contact him were not successful. 

The Hathras Police Station and the State Police department has not provided any information so far on taking him into custody. 

Mr. Kappan was trying to do his duty as a reporter. 

We urge you to get him released at the earliest. 

Thanks and Regards

Miji Jose 
President.

According to the news report, Mathura police claim “suspicious literature, one that could have an adverse impact on peace,” was recovered from the four men. However, police are yet to reveal the content of the literature or what laws were violated, stated the news report, adding that the police statement did not acknowledge that  Kappan is a journalist. Police have claimed that the four in custody were linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student body Campus Front of India. In  December 2019 the UP government had alleged PFI involvement in vandalism in the State when the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were underway across India.

The Hindu reported that the Delhi-based journalist was among four people arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police when they were on their way to Hathras. These are the latest arrests, after the State police claimed that a “conspiracy to defame the State government and trigger caste riots over the Hathras incident” was afoot. The four were taken into custody at a toll plaza in Mathura when they were travelling in a car from Delhi to Hathras, reported The Hindu. The car was stopped after “police found their activities suspicious,” following which they were taken into custody, added the Mathura police according to the news report. The four are: Ateeq-ur-Rehman, Siddiqui Kappan, Masood Ahmed and Alam. 

The president of the KUWJ state committee Thiruvananthapuram, KP Reji, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking Kappan’s immediate release. “Our relentless efforts to contact him were in vain. The Hathras Police Station and the State Police department has not provided any information so far on taking him into custody,” The Hindu quoted Reji’s letter to the PM. Azhimukham editor KN Ashok, said Kappan was a regular contributor and on October 5, he had messaged that he was going to report from Hathras. “That is the only information we got from him,” Ashok told The Hindu, adding that there was no response when they tried to contact Kappan in the evening. They learned later that he was in UP police’s custody, adding that the police did not inform them about the arrest.

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