A journalist who is at the receiving end of what is widely seen as State crackdown on dissent will address a Kolkata audience this Sunday.
Siddique Kappan, imprisoned for over two years without a trial for trying to report on the alleged Hathras gang rape and murder case before walking out on bail in February this year, will speak on the present state of journalism in India.
The conversation, titled “Seeking the truth: Journalism in today’s India”, has been organised by the People’s Film Collective, an independent, people-funded body that screens films and hosts conversations.
“The state of press freedom in India is under threat. Journalists are increasingly being targeted and harassed for their work, and the government is using laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to silence dissent.
“Kappan’s case is a reminder that the right to free expression is under attack in India. The People’s Film Collective is hosting this event to raise awareness about the importance of press freedom and to show solidarity with Kappan and other journalists who are fighting for the right to report the truth,” said a note from the organisers.
Kasturi Basu, a documentary filmmaker, activist and one of the organisers of the programme, said: “Kappan is not part of a big media house in Delhi. He was not a well-known face on television before his arrest. He was targeted because he wanted to do his job. There are many other freelancers and stingers who are constantly being hounded because they want to report facts.”
Kappan, a Malayalam journalist, was arrested in 2020 in Mathura while travelling from Delhi to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to cover the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit teen. He was booked on sedition, terrorism and other charges and accused of planning to foment violence and unrest.
Later, the Enforcement Directorate booked Kappan for alleged money-laundering.
He finally walked out on bail on February 2. “I realise that I didn’t know till October 5, 2020 (the day he was arrested) what freedom meant. Now I know,” the Delhi-based Kappan, originally from Kerala, told this newspaper after coming out of jail.
On Sunday, the conversation at Sujata Sadan, an auditorium in Hazra, will be followed by the screening of Writing with Fire, a documentary on Khabar Lahariya, a newspaper run by rural women in Uttar Pradesh.
The film follows the newspaper’s journalists as they use their phones to report on issues that matter to their communities, such as caste discrimination, child marriage and the environment.