Lawfare, Detention – Journalists

On Monday, journalist Dharmender Singh posted a video online to detail how he had been detained by the Delhi police on January 30. Singh, a reporter with Online News India, had been detained along with Caravan contributor Mandeep Punia while covering the farmer protests at Singhu border.

In the 12-minute video posted on YouTube, Singh said he had been at Singhu with his cameraman. The police had sealed the entry point to the protest site at that time, and labourers proceeding to their places of work had been stopped by the police. “There was a tussle of words…and what the mazdoors allege is that the police started verbally abusing them,” Singh said in the video. “I immediately took out my phone and started to record all this on my own.”

Singh said he turned the camera towards the police personnel present and asked “about the allegations” being levied by the workers. “Is it right what they are saying, I asked. I don’t know what offended them so much about my questions.” Singh claimed that one of the cops said, “Isko andar kheech lijeya.” Pull him inside.