Arrests – Journalists

A Manipur journalist, who was granted bail last month after being arrested on charges of sedition for an allegedly offensive Facebook post on Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, has been detained for 12 months under the National Security Act (NSA).

Kishorechand Wangkhem, 39, who was working as an anchor-reporter for local news channel ISTV, was arrested on November 21 after he uploaded a video on social media criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and calling Mr. Singh a “puppet of Hindutva.”

The police alleged that he had used foul language to condemn Mr. Singh and his government for organising a function to commemorate the battle of Rani of Jhansi against the British and linking it to Manipur’s freedom movement. He was arrested under the IPC section dealing with sedition, but released on bail on November 25. He was taken into custody again two days later and detained under the NSA.