Updated: October 8, 2020 7:21:10 am
Siddique Kappan (wearing cap), secretary of the Kerala Workers’ Union of Journalists, and three other people who were detained with him were brought before a court in Mathura on Wednesday. (PTI)
A 41 YEAR OLD journalist living in Delhi and three others, who were detained by UP police on Monday afternoon of a toll plaza in Mathura, were booked on Wednesday under UAPA, the strict anti-terrorism law.
According to the FIR presented at the Maant Police Station, journalist Siddique Kappan, Campus Front of India (CFI) officials Atiq-ur-Rahman and Masood Ahmed, and a man identified as Alam, have been charged with a alleged “conspiracy behind his visit to Hathras”, where a A 19-year-old Dalit woman was assaulted and allegedly mistreated on September 14. He died at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on September 29.
While Kappan hails from Malappuram in Kerala and has been living in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi, the others are UP residents. Kappan is the secretary of the Kerala Union of Worker Journalists (KUWJ) and is associated with various Malayalam media outlets, including the website azhimukham.com.
Speaking to The Indian Express by phone from Malappuram, Kappan’s wife Rehana said: “What kind of democracy is this where a reporter who goes out to report is booked under UAPA?” Masood’s older brother, Mohsin, said: “We found out about the arrest yesterday and we have no idea where he is. The police have not approached us ”.
The FIR, filed in a police complaint, states: “During the investigation, it was found that there was a conspiracy behind your visit to Hathras. It had been highlighted in media reports that antisocial people were making efforts to trigger caste tensions and riots on the basis of the unfortunate incident in Hathras. Following this, they were trying to fundraise and were also running the carrd.co website. They tried to cause disturbances and threaten law, order and social harmony. “
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The FIR has been filed under sections 17 (punishment for raising funds for terrorist acts) and 14 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in addition to sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity) and 295A (injuring religious sentiments) of the IPC. Sections of the IT Act have also been invoked.
The FIR states: “The fundraising means were found to be illegal and therefore liable to seizure. The funds raised from abroad through this website would have been used to incite violence. A leaflet, ‘I am not the daughter of India’, made with (the website), and many of those leaflets would incite violence. The website was being used to invoke caste-based violence. “
Police said the referenced website, carrd.co, is where one can create their own site, in this case justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co, which has since been taken down.
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The FIR claims that such a website would invoke “anti-national” sentiments in young people. “Anti-national propaganda” is being generated through this website, and words such as “mob lynching”, “worker migration” and support for “disruptive elements in Kashmir” are examples, he says.
Mathura’s lawyer, Pratibha Sharma, who represents the four men, said they would release a bond statement on Thursday.
“They are in judicial custody. I have not yet been able to meet with the accused. Today, they were taken to court under strict security measures, as if they were bringing in terrorists. “
Kappan and Rehana have three children, ages 18, 12 and 7. “Until the afternoon there was hope that he would come out, then I discovered that he had been booked by UAPA. What did he do wrong? I was reporting. Did you commit a crime? No. So why have they done this? I haven’t been able to speak to him since he was arrested. The Malappuram SP came today and asked for my husband. I told him everything, I have nothing to hide, ”Rehana said.
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On Tuesday, the KUWJ unit in Delhi had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath, describing Kappan’s arrest as “illegal”. He said that a writ of habeas corpus has been filed in the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the KUWJ expressed its hope that the court “will take up the matter as soon as possible” and “will uphold press freedom and constitutional principles.”
“The police have disobeyed all the guidelines established by the Supreme Court and the democratic procedures in this country in the arrest … He (Kappan) was even denied his right to seek possibilities to take bail and to contact lawyers , family or friends, “the KUWJ said. “This is not only an attack on freedom of the press, but also on the democratic rights of Indian citizens.”
CFI is linked to the radical Popular Front of India (PFI) group. Anis Ahmed, general secretary of the PFI, said that the “attempt to tie the Popular Front alleging a conspiracy to incite caste or communal violence is completely unfounded and ridiculous.”
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