India – CASR Strongly Condemns Arresting of Kashmiri Journalists

We hereby share a statement that we have received from Campaign Against State Repression (CASR).

CASR STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE ARRESTING OF KASHMIRI JOURNALIST HILAL MIR AND REJAZ M SHEEBA SYDEEK IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY

The Indian state has once again brazenly revealed its disregard for freedom of press and democratic rights by arresting Kashmiri journalist Hilal Mir and independent journalist Rejaz Sydeek. This was on the basis of their social media posts where they had condemned the violence by the Indian state in Jammu and Kashmir as well the escalation of the war-like situation between India and Pakistan.

Rejaz is a journalist and an activist based in Kerala who has reported on caste issues, communal violence against the minority community and violations of human rights. He was continuously harassed by the Indian state while trying to cover the issues of bonded labourers in the plantation sector of the Malnad region of Karnataka. Rejaz has been threatened several times and tagged as an Urban Naxal while he was covering these issues. Multiple FIRs have been filed against him, including one for organising a protest against the violence unleashed by the Indian state against Kashmiri people. Rejaz has covered burning issues like the case of political prisoners and has participated in several protests against state violence. He, as an activist, has also organised protests against the encounter killings of Maoists in Kerala and other states. Ironically, Rejaz was arrested when he was travelling back home to Kerala from Delhi after addressing a Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) press conference on World Press Freedom Day in solidarity with all incarcerated journalists in India.

While travelling back to Kerala after speaking in the said press conference, he was arrested by the joint collaboration between Nagpur police and intelligence agencies from a hotel room, where he was meeting a friend. The evidence against Rejaz is laughable and unlikely to hold in a court which follows basic democratic principles of natural justice and rule of law. It includes a a photo of a 7-year-old child allegedly killed in Operation Sindoor which Rejaz had posted on his social media accounts. Along with this, the Nagpur police have also seized books and manuscripts as ‘evidence’ to prove that he is waging a war against the Indian state. The books include a biography of Comrade GN Saibaba. The Indian state continues to criminalise anyone who even carries books on GN Saibaba. Apparently, reading a book on GN Saibaba proves that an accused was in a mindset to wage a war against the Indian state. The Indian state has also claimed that a pamphlet circulated by Nazariya Magazine, Delhi which is about the release of a booklet by the publication on the issue of peace talks between CPI (Maoist) the Indian state, is also evidence to prove that Rejaz is attempting to wage a war against the Indian state. Only the despotic Brahminical Hindutva fascist state can claim that a pamphlet on peace which is advocating for a ceasefire can be used to prove that Rejaz is attempting to wage a war against the Indian state. They have even utilised personal photos posted by Rejaz of what appears to be pellet guns to prove this further. Whether this gun is real or fake is not clarified by the state. The posting of the picture and the possession of a shirt worn by Rejaz in the same picture are used as evidence to portray Rejaz as an individual collecting arms to wage a war against the Indian state. The Indian state should clarify how pellet guns can be used to wage a war against it if it is to justify this arrest. Recent reporting has also tied Rejaz to allegations of collecting funds and networking for banned CPI (Maoist), building student organisations for the same and collaborating with other frontal organisations etc,. He has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 149 (preparing to wage war against the government of India), 192 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) among other provisions. Along with him, his friend who lives in was arrested separately, police said, without giving details of the charges pressed against her.

When compares it to the case of Hilal Mir, one can see that it is the very act of attempting to reveal the truth about the violence unleashed by the state in Kashmir that has led to both of the arrests. Hilal Mir had posted photos of the demolition of the houses of civilians in Kashmir. The attempt to reveal this violence has been claimed as an attempt to spread disaffection against the Indian state and secessionist ideology. Mir has been working in multiple Kashmir-based English newspapers and has been working for the Turkey-based TRT World. Hilal Mir, just like Rejaz, has been harassed continuously and threatened by the Indian state through raids. In 2021, Mir was among one of the four journalists who were targeted in a raid. However, no arrest was done until then. Mir was in connection with multiple foreign journalists abroad who were colleagues in the Anatoly news agency. He was also part of multiple WhatsApp groups having journalists from across the country. This has been used as flimsy evidence to build a case by proclaiming that Mir is in touch with foreign forces, from whom he has been ‘receiving directions’. The truth is that both these journalists have attempted to unveil the real nature of the belligerency of the Indian state in Kashmir after the Pahalgam attacks, especially the violence perpetuated by the Indian army on the Indian side of Kashmir and the Pakistani side of Kashmir as part of Operation Sindhoor. The Indian state does not want the truth about the situation to come out and wants to utilise this to further propagate their narrative against minorities in the country and seek to distract the masses from their real problems.

CASR condemns this witch-hunting of the journalists and demands an end to this attack on press freedom in India. CASR also condemns the Maharashtra Police falsely Claiming CASR is frontal organisation of CPI Maoist. We also demand the immediate release of Rejaz M. Sheeba Sydeek, Hilal Mir and all incarcerated journalists.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE REPRESSION

Organising Team

(AIRSO, AISA, AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, SFI, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)