NAPM demands withdrawal of FIR against three Caravan journalists who
faced assault while reporting on the 2020 Delhi pogrom
We stand in solidarity with journalists facing constant attacks, false
cases and arrests meant to restrain their free and fearless reporting
(Samajweekly)
17th June, 2024: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), strongly condemns the
recent action of Delhi Police in filing an FIR against three journalists of The Caravan, merely
for diligently doing their duty of reporting during the targeted communal violence in NorthEast Delhi in 2020. We are aware that this move is part of the pattern of persecution that
journalists who report truth to power and question the establishment have been facing, for
many years now!
As it comes back to power with a reduced majority, the BJP seeks to continue its offensive
against democratic voices, including independent media. NAPM is of the view that this is an
outright attack on the press and freedom of speech and expression. We demand that the
said FIR against journalists of The Caravan be withdrawn forthwith and the right of media
persons to report in a free and fearless manner be upheld.
As has been widely reported, the impugned FIR against the journalists has been registered in a
questionable manner, and has come to light literally four years after the violence was
orchestrated in Delhi, by the right-wing regime. In 2020, three journalists covering the
aftermath of the North-east Delhi pogrom were assaulted in the north Ghonda area, of
Bhajanpura PS. Ten days back, the journalists learnt about the FIR against them, when they
received a notice to be part of the investigation. It has been reported that the FIR includes
serious sections of IPC such as 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), Sec 354 (Assault
or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty of woman), Sec 153A (promoting enmity
between different groups), r/w Sec 34 (common intention).
On 11th August 2020, Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh and a woman journalist working with The
Caravan, were following-up on a story in the north Ghonda neighbourhood, when a mob, some
of whom identified themselves as affiliated to the ruling BJP, assaulted them, used communal
slurs, and threatened to kill them. Shahid was particularly targeted for being Muslim after he
showed his ID card to an angry mob. The female journalist was also sexually harassed in the
attack. Reportedly, the attack went on for close to 1.5 hours. The journalists filed a detailed
complaint after their ordeal. While the complaint was filed on the same day, the Police delayed
the matter for 3 days and registered an FIR only on the 14th of August, 2020. The attack on the
journalists was condemned widely, including by the Editors Guild of India, which demanded
action against those who roughed up the journalists.
NAPM
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National Alliance of People’s Movements
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Shockingly, it has now come to light that the Delhi Police first registered an FIR against the three
journalists on the complaint of a BJP leader’s wife, and delayed the journalists’ FIR by three
days, treating it as a “counter-FIR”! Over four years, the journalists were not even given a copy
of the FIR against them, citing its ‘sensitive nature’. Not only that, there has been no progress on
the FIR filed by the journalists, clearly indicating the partisan manner in which the Delhi Police
has been functioning.
On the day of the incident in Aug, 2020, the three journalists were following up on a previous
report in The Caravan on a complaint of misconduct against Delhi Police. The original report
explored a Muslim woman’s complaint against certain personnel of the Delhi Police beating
and sexually assaulting her and her minor daughter. She was one of the complainants, against
the attack on Muslims in the North-east Delhi violence earlier that year.
In late 2019 and early 2020, Delhi and numerous cities and towns across India became centres
for a women-led mass uprising for equal citizenship and against the unconstitutional CAANRC-NPR, proposed by the Union Govt. Instead of democratically addressing the genuine
concerns of agitated people, especially muslims who have already been facing many years of
apartheid in India under the BJP, a vicious attempt by the ruling party leaders to provoke and
instigate violence began.
Many activists who opposed the anti-constitutional CAA were booked under draconian laws
such as UAPA and to this day, some of them like Khalid Saifi, Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam,
Gulshifa Fatima, Meeran Haider etc. are behind bars and haven’t been granted bails. On the
other hand, despite video evidence showing the likes of Kapil Mishra and other BJP leaders
openly instigating crowds for violence against Muslims, in the presence of the police, no strong
legal action has been taken against them.
In the past 4 years, investigations by the Delhi Police in cases related to the 2020 Delhi violence
suggest communal-bias and unfair handling, as also concluded in independent fact-finding
reports by civil society groups. As per reports, 15 Hindus and 38 Muslims lost their lives, in the
violence and the homes and bastis of muslims were particularly targeted and burnt down. Not
only were the complaints of Muslims affected by violence not filed meticulously, they were
infact booked and implicated in a large number of cases.
It is in the light of such a deplorable state of affairs and complicity of the authorities; that the
role of independent journalism becomes even more significant. The Caravan is well-known for
its bold and investigative style of long-form journalism. In 2023, the magazine won the
Shorenstein Journalism Award by the prestigious Stanford University, as it was declared by the
selection committee as the “last bastion of bold investigative journalism in India under extreme
duress”. The publication’s journalists have also won awards including IPI India Award for
Excellence in Journalism in 2023 and ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism in 2018. As stated
by The Caravan in its press release, the FIR against its journalists is completely false and
fabricated and is an attempt to muzzle their reporting.
Over the last decade, mainstream media houses have either toed the fascist and authoritarian
government’s line or been bought over by billionaires close to the ruling dispensation. From the
140th position in 2014, when the BJP under Mr. Narendra Modi formed the Govt at the centre,
India has slipped further to 159, out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index. A report by
Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) says that 194 journalists were targeted across India in
2022. Out of these, 103 were targeted by state actors while 91 were targeted by non-state
actors including political activists. Out of these, 7 journalists were killed.
While most mainstream media platforms have been reduced to propaganda mouthpieces of
the ruling party, ‘alternate’ or progressive media groups, independent journalists, factcheckers, youtubers etc have been working over time to bring facts and truthful analysis to
people. However, they have been facing online abuse, threats of violence, physical and sexual
harassment as well as assaults. Protecting our journalists’ freedom to report critically is
ensuring a fundamental tenet of democracy, our right to information and our ability to make
informed decisions.
National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), salutes our brave independent media,
working against many odds. We acknowledge the persecution of the three journalists by the
Delhi Police as a part of the broader attack on non-establishment media and independent
journalists. We demand that:
➢ The Delhi Police must immediately withdraw the FIR against the three journalists of
Caravan.
➢ The FIR filed by the journalists must be properly investigated with the Delhi High
Court monitoring the investigation, to ensure no misuse of power takes place
against the journalists;
➢ The actions of police officers at the Bhajanpura station must be investigated
impartially. If found guilty, the errant police personnel must be penalised;
➢ The Delhi Police, which comes under the authority of the Union Ministry of Home
Affairs, along with other state agencies, must stop the culture of targeting and
harassing journalists critical of the government and/or the ruling party;
➢ The government must commit to protecting freedom of the press and freedom of
expression.
➢ Anti-CAA activists, who were exercising their democratic right to protest a law
widely perceived to be unjust and anti-constitutional, must be immediately released
and cases against them withdrawn.
➢ An unbiased inquiry must be initiated under the supervision of the Supreme Court,
to ascertain concerns regarding the communal, vindictive and biased role of the
Delhi Police during and after the 2020 Delhi violence.
➢ Errant officers of the Delhi Police must be penalised, if found guilty of conducting
biased investigations and/or dereliction of duty.
Issued by: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
E-mail: [email protected]
