India: Press Conference organized by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

We hereby share a report published by CASR that we have received.

Today 3rd May, on the occassion of World Press Freedom Day, Campaign Against State Repression organised a press conference at Press Club expressing solidarity with all the journalists incarcerated by the Indian State under UAPA and various laws. Invited speakers in the conference included Sanjay Kak (film maker and writer), Prabir Purkayastha, Sharjeel Usmani and Rejaz M Sheeba Sydek.

Prabir Purkayastha spoke about the incarceration of Irfan Mehraz, who shared the same jail ward with him. He expressed concern over the environment of fear created among journalists and regional media houses because of the intense state repression, stating that even though repression on journalists in urban areas is often highlighted, the repression against local journalists from small towns fails to gather solidarity. He also highligted that risk of violence from feudal and criminal goon along with state repression that these regional journalists have to face. “As journalists”, he stated, “we need to figure out a way to create a solidarity network of journalists to help those journalists facing state repression, not only by highlighting the issue but also creating mutual aid, mobilizing lawyers and organising journalists.” He insisted on the need for journalists to organize and the inability and the risk to press freedom that individual struggles of journalists pose. He compared the current repression on press with the emergency period in 1975, calling today a state of undeclared emergency and emphasizing on the even wider nature of repression on press freedom today.

Sanjay Kak further spoke on the need of solidarity among journalists raising the issue of repression against journalists in Kashmir and how journalist Irfan Mehraz was charged under UAPA just for expressing solidarity with victims of blinding caused by pellet guns. He further talked about the works of Irfan Mehraz and how his work with JKCCS and reports on use of torture by the Indian State in Kashmir were put in his chargesheet as proof to justify terror charges. He showed his concern over the retrospective nature of the charges against Mehraz and how his lawful reports from before 2019 were used five years later to formulate terror charges. “Where once Kashmir used to have a vibrant media culture, now we only see Kashmir in news when its related to tourism. Irfan spoke out against this censoring of the voices of Kashmir.”, he stated. He spoke on the nature of UAPA, and how since this journalism cannot be criminalized legally, the process of UAPA is turned into the punishment.

Sharjeel Usmani talked about the alternate narrative created by the mainstream media of urban naxals and terrorists. He gave the example of the recent case in Nainital, where a rape case committed by a muslim man was manufactured by the media as an incident of communal violence leading to the vandalism of a 200 year old mosque. He too emphasised on the necessity of creating solidarity networks of journalists to combat this alternative reality and the importance of the youth in creating this network.He expressed concern over the tracking and tapping of phones and devices of journalists by state agencies in the recent times.

A note written by ipsa was read during the conference. The note hailed the life of Journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, who was killed in Bastar for reporting on a scam in road construction projects. It also talked about the murder of Gauri Lankesh and several other journalists world wide who died for reporting the truth, highlighting on the murder of over 200 journalists jn Palestine by the Israeli Forces. The note highlighted the rank of India on the Press Freedom Index and how the incarceration of Irfan Mehraz and Rupesh Kumar Singh is being carried out as a conspiracy by the State. “Rupesh Kumar has been transferred again and again from various prisons for raising the issues of prisoners and corruption in prisons. And he had 5 fake FIRs filed on him from various states to trap him in the mire of cases after his abduction and incarceration under UAPA, with 3 of the 5 FIRs not even mentioning his name. The note also talked on the brutal nature of UAPA and how it is being used to silence any voices that try to expose the corrupt and anti-people policies of the State and how Rupesh was linked with maoists for raising his voice against the exploitation of people of Jharkhand.

Rejaz read a poem written by Rupesh Kumar while under incarceration. Rejaz told how he has been arrested in Kerala for reporting on violence against muslims and in Karnataka for reporting on state violence against adivasis. He expressed solidarity with the journalists in Palestine and hailed the life of Journalist Hem Chander Panday who was murdered by the Indian State. He expressed how Irfan Mehraz was incarcerated for combatting the illusion of Kashmir as “heaven on earth” by exposing the brutal repression committed by the State in Kashmir. He recalled how he was about to interview Rupesh Kumar before his incarceration on a story Rupesh Kumar did on the fake encounter of an adivasi peasant by the CRPF. “It is the works like this, which prompted the corporates and the comprador Indian State to incarcerate journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh.”, he stated.

The press conference concluded with a talk on the role of NIA in repression on journalists, and how Rupesh Kumar was arrested under the pretext that “his name was mentioned in a pen drive siezed from a maoist leader” and how over 60 raids have been conducted by the NIA in the following years based on the same ‘siezed pen drive”, with raids targetting a diverse group of people ranging from journalists to activists and lawyers, further highlighting an interconnected nature of the repression on journalists.