India

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: INDIA: Police beat two photographers covering Kashmir unrest New York, September 27, 2004 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Saturday’s attack on photographers Rafiq Maqbool of The Associated Press, and Amin War of the national newspaper The Tribune, who were beaten by police while covering […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release: Government repeals mean step forward for press freedom in India The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, has today welcomed recent steps taken by the Indian Government, which have meant greater press freedom for journalists in India. The IFJ […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 August 2004 CPJ press release: INDIA: Editor stabbed as he leaves office New York, August 26, 2004 – Two unidentified assailants stabbed the editor of the Marathi-language daily Mahanagar outside his office in Mumbai on the evening of August 24. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed deep shock at the attempted murder of Sajid Rashid, editor of the Hindi-language edition of the daily “Mahanagar”. Rashid was stabbed twice in the back on the evening of 24 August 2004, in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The organisation called on the Maharashtra state authorities to take all necessary measures to […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the 29 June 2004 attack by militant Hindu nationalists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the offices of the daily “Mahanagar” in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). During the raid, the BJP militants assaulted three journalists and ransacked the premises. Journalists Yuvraj Mohite, Jayesh Shirsat and Vaishali Rode were all slightly […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has protested the arrest of a reporter from the Tamil-language magazine “Nakkheeran” in what is seen as a renewed attempt by the authorities in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu to implicate the staff of this independent magazine in a murder allegedly committed by the well-known local bandit Veerappan. The reporter, Subramaniyam, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 20 December 2003, R.R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil-language magazine “Nakkheeran”, was released on bail following a Tamil Nadu High Court order. Gopal was detained in Chennai Central prison for more than eight months. He still faces charges for “conspiring to promote the secession of Tamil Nadu state” and “possession of a […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – In a letter to the Assam governor, retired lieutenant general Ajai Singh, the IFJ expressed great concern over the abduction and alleged death of journalist Indra Mohan Hakasam, a local correspondent from Goalpara, Assam, working for “Amar Assam”, an Assamese daily published in the city of Guwahati. According to IFJ’s information, Doleng Rava […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an 11 November 2003 IPI letter to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee: H.E. Atal Behari Vajpayee Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister New Delhi 110 011 India Fax: + 91 11 301 6857 Vienna, 11 November 2003 Your Excellency, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has welcomed the Indian Supreme Court’s suspension of orders by the Tamil Nadu State Assembly to arrest the publisher, two senior editors and two journalists from the national daily “The Hindu”. They had each been sentenced to serve 15 days in prison for “breach of privilege” after their newspaper criticised the arrest […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – In a 22 September 2003 letter to Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the IFJ expressed deep concern over the murder of Parmanand Goyal, a journalist and Kaithal Unit president of the Haryana Union of Journalists. It is the IFJ’s understanding that at 7:00 a.m. (local time) on 18 September, Goyal, a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – R.R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil-language magazine “Nakkheeran”, has been sent to prison in Poonnamalle, near Chennai. Judge L.Rajendran formally charged him with “conspiring to promote the secession of Tamil Nadu state” and “possession of a firearm” under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). It is the first time a journalist had been […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 14 April 2003, RSF denounced the arrest of R. R. Gopal, editor of the bi-weekly Tamil-language magazine “Nakkheeran”, for “illegal possession of firearms” and “sedition”. The organisation said the editor’s arrest is an attempt by police to cover up their inability to find Veerappan, one of India’s most notorious bandits. RSF said […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 20 March 2003, RSF called on police and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to step up their investigation of a bomb attack near the premises of the Nepalese-language newspaper “Sunchari Samachar”, in Siliguri (in West Bengal state’s Darjeeling district). RSF said it feared local journalists would be tempted to censor themselves […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: INDIA: CPJ protests censorship of documentary New York, March 20, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to reverse its earlier decision to deny a certificate to the documentary “Aakrosh,” which prevents the film from being shown publicly. […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Police in Tamil Nadu state (south-eastern India) have been attempting, by every possible means, to arrest R. R. Gopal, editor of the Tamil-language twice-weekly magazine “Nakkheeran”, because of his alleged ties with the wanted bandit Veerappan. RSF has asked Tamil Nadu state police and government officials to stop harassing “Nakkheeran”‘s editorial staff. The […]