Prabhat Singh is a human rights defender and journalist, reporting for Patrika newspaper on the situation in the tribal region of Bastar. During the past three months, he has been reporting on allegedly false cases brought against tribal villagers in the areas of Chhattisgarh affected by an insurgency by Maoist groups. He has also reported on harassment of and attacks on human rights defenders and journalists in the region. He has been a strong critic of the Chhattisgarh police and has played a key role in highlighting several cases of police brutality and involvement in human rights violations in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Prabhat Singh has also played a vital role in organising peaceful protests and discussions devoted to the drafting and implementation of a law that would ensure the independence and security of journalists reporting from areas affected by the Maoist conflict in Bastar.
 
On March 26, 2016, Prabhat Singh's request for bail was denied at a court hearing at the CJM in Jagdalpur. The Court also refused an application by the police for the extension of Prabhat Singh's police custody and ordered the human rights defender to be sent to the Jagdalpur Central Jail, where he will remain in judicial custody at least until the next court session on April 13, 2016. The police will be required to report on the investigation's progress at this session, and the Court will then decide on whether to release Prabhat Singh from judicial custody. A medical report was produced before the judge during the hearing, stating that no injuries had been discovered during a prior examination of the human rights defender. Prabhat Singh opposed the report, claiming that he had never been examined by a doctor and had been forced to sign the report. The judge, however, did not take his objections into account.

During the court hearing, which was conducted amidst a heavy police presence, the human rights defender denied all the accusations against him, claiming that the cases had been opened in reprisal for his critical reporting, including his revelation of large-scale fraud at the Aadhaar facilitation centre in Geedam and the mentioned school. After the court hearing took place, Prabhat Singh was returned into custody.
 
On  22,March 2016, Prabhat Singh was officially charged by the CJM in Jagdalpur under section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and 67(A) of the Information Technology Act, as well as section 292 (publication of obscene or scurrilous matter) of the Indian Penal Code, for allegedly posting an “obscene message” about a senior police officer on the WhatsApp group “Bastar News”. On the same day, the human rights defender was also charged in three other cases from 2015. In two of these cases, Prabhat Singh was charged under sections 420, 120B and 35 of the Indian Penal Code for alleged fraud linked to his work at the Aadhaar Facilitation Centre in Dantewada. In the third case the human rights defender was accused of taking pictures of female students from Geedam Higher Secondary School without permission, and manhandling an examiner and demanding money from him. The charges were brought under sections 448, 385, 353, 186, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 of Chhattisgarh Examination Act.
 
During the court hearing, which was conducted amidst a heavy police presence, the human rights defender denied all the accusations against him, claiming that the cases had been opened in reprisal for his critical reporting, including his revelation of large-scale fraud at the Aadhaar facilitation centre in Geedam and the mentioned school. After the court hearing took place, Prabhat Singh was returned into custody.
 
On March 21,  2016, a white-coloured Bolero car stopped in front of the office of the Patrika newspaper in Dantewada. Several policemen in plain clothes got out of it and without presenting an arrest warrant, picked Prabhat Singh up and put him in the car. The human rights defender was then taken to the Parpa Police station in Bastar, where he was detained over-night.

While in custody the human rights defender was beaten and sharp objects were used to cut his hands. Police officers also verbally abused and made death threats against him, forcing him to sign several blank pieces of paper, which allegedly were subsequently used to fabricate the medical report.  

The post Journo Prabhat Singh Denied Bail Remanded to Judicial Custody: Bastar, Jagdalpur appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Another journalist, deepak Jaiswal, was arrested by the Chhatisgarh police on Saturday making this the second arrest and the third all out bid to thwart independent journalists bearing witness to the conflict in the region. Sabrangindia has been tracking the brute repression in Chhatisgarh especially acute since October-November 2015.

There are strong rumours locally that undettered by criticism, the notice by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Chhatisgarh police is all set to arrest four to six more journalists.

Sabrangindia has a copy of the FIR and also a series of articles written by Deepak Jaiswal exposing nepotism and corruption.

The Hindu  reports that Deepak Jaiswal, a young reporter of a Hindi newspaper ‘Dainik Dainadini’ based in Dantewada district of Bastar , was arrested in a case of “entering the examination hall, trespassing, obstructing public servant in discharge of public function”, which was registered against him last year. According to local sources, Mr.Jaiswal was a close associate of journalist Prabhat Singh, who arrested by the police earlier this week.

Mr.Jaiswal was reportedly arrested from court premises in Dantewada, where he had gone to witness court proceedings in Mr.Singh’s case. The Hindu further reports that, when asked about the scribe’s arrest, Dantewada district Superintendent of Police (SP) Mr.Kamlochan Kashyap refused to call him a “journalist”.

“Mr.Deepak Jaiswal is not a journalist. We asked the publicity wing of the government about him and they have given us in writing that he was not registered with them as a journalist. He runs a hotel business here. He has been arrested a case in which Prabhat Singh is also a co-accused. He was a close friend of Prabhat Singh. We immediately produced Deepak Jaiswal in the court and he has been sent on four days of judicial remand,” Mr.Kashyap told The Hindu.

Deepak Jaiswal became the fourth Bastar journalist to be arrested in last six months. The South Bastar Reporters Association, however, came down heavily on the police for refusing to accept Deepak.Jaiswal as a journalist.“Mr.Deepak Jaiswal was a full-time journalist since last two years and I can personally testify for that. We have decided that from now on, no coverage will be given to the police or the Maoists by reporters based in Dantewada district. Why should we report about them if they do not even consider us journalists? We will speak to our counterparts in neighboring Bijapur, Sukma and Bastar district and we would ask them to join us in blocking news related to the police and Maoists. We are journalists and not a part of any party here,” Mr.Bappi Roy, the president of the South Bastar Reporters Association told The Hindu.

Articles by Deepak Jaiswal:

FIR against Deepak Jaiswal

The post Another Journalist Arrested in Bastar: Repression by Chhattisgarh Police Continues appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Prabhat Singh has been writing consistently on the allegations of atrocities by IG Kalluri in the Dantewada district. As an active, local journalist, Prabhat Singh accompanie indepdent Adivasi adcitivists and community workers into villages like Rewali and Nahadi. He also indepdently recorded the details of extra-judicial killings made against the police. Prabhat Singh was also active in organising journalists in support of the Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon, In short, Prabhat Singh has played a vital role in ensuring some space for independent reporting from this conflict-torn area. He had been with Patrika for some time, and had recently started working with E-TV. Reportedly, E-TV summarily terminated his services just a day before his arrest. Here is a copy of the termination letter. Sources told Sabrangindia that the development came days after ETV bureau head of Chhattisgarh Ms Priyanka Kaushal's helicopter trip to Sukma with Mr.SRP Kalluri. Apparently, the ETV bureau head was told clearly to remove Prabhat.

There have been a string of all out attempts to suppress independent media reportage in the Bastar region over past months. Within a time span of 12 months, after Somaru Nag, Santosh Yadav ( Patrika), Malini Subramaniam (Scroll.in), Alok Putul (BBC), Prabhat (Patrika, ex-ETV news correspondent) was the fifth journalist on record who was in hit list of police for raising the real issues of atrocities carried out by security forces.Several National Media journalists including Hindu correspondent also complained that they were threatened for carrying out reports on Bastar.

Pavan Dahat, correspondent of The Hindu in Chhattisgarh and eastern Maharashtra told Sabrangindia, "I was on leave and returned to find these developments afoot. Prabhat has been a close associate of mine. Our information is that Prabhat has been implicated in a case related to cyber law. The police have not said anything on record but when asked about his arrest Dantewada SP Kamlochan Kashyap told local contacts that he has been arrested by the Jagdalpur police i.e Bastar district police. Prabhat Singh's wife and two children are being brought to Jagdalpur. Prabhat Singh is a native of Barsoor, a town eight kilometres from Dantewada."

The immediate concern is to  get immediate legal aid. Two lawyers are reportedly travelling from Bilaspur are travelling from Bilaspur to Jagdalpur today. Pavan Dahat further said, "The cyber case against Prabhat Singh him is new, but he has already been slapped with two previous cases. Both the cases were slapped on him after Mr.SRP Kalluri had openly told him at a press conference in Dantewada that he had "Kundali of Prabhat" and he should mend his ways. There are two more journalists from Bastar Tameshwar Sinha and Kamal Shukla who could also be targeted in the near future. Both of them were active in anti-police protest after the arrest of Santosh Yadav and Somaru Nag. The way the Bastar police head  is going, the time is not far when people like me from The Hindu, The Indian Express, Times of India and other national dailies would face the heat."

National and local journalists, especially Kamal Shukla have already swung into action and a protest march is being planned. Pavan Dhat further said that "There are senior police officers in Chhattisgarh, who are furious over what is happening but are sitting silently because the ruling dispensation has turned a blind eye towards Bastar. A single person can not be allowed to act as a dictator in a democracy. I urge every pro-democracy voice to come forward to help Prabhat Singh. Prabhat Singh has been a close associate and friend of mine. He was only doing his job, which is impartial reporting from Bastar and his biggest crime was to provide a voice to the exploited masses."

The State President of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Lakhan Singh condemned the action taken by police and said, police cannot miff the voice of fourth estate by carrying out brutalities or framing them into false cases. Leader of Opposition TS Baba said, threatening journalists or terrorising them is very unfortunate. We will raise the issue in Assembly during budget session, he added.
 
References:
 
1.  Police pick up one more journalist in Bastar
2. Chhatisgarh Repression Continues: Dr Saibal Jana arrested in 24 year old cas
3. Soni Sori was on the verge of filing an FIR against IG Kalluri when she was attacked
4. NHRC intervenes as BJP govt. hounds defenders of adivasis' rights in Bastar
5. Where every human rights activist is labelled a Maoist: Chhatisgarh
6. Adivasis not Naxalites are the target of the government: Soni Sori
7. Has India betrayed its indigenous peoples, the Adivasis?
8. न नक्सल, न पुलिस, हम जनता के साथ हैं: सोनी सोरी  

The post Police pick up one more journalist in Bastar, Repression Continues appeared first on SabrangIndia.