Lawfare – Detention

On November 30 last year, Hakeem Irfan ( TheEconomic Times ) and Bashaarat Masood ( Indian Express ) were summoned to “Cargo”, a former interrogation centre, where they were reportedly grilled by the police for six to eight hours. Many journalists who were summoned by the police and counter-insurgency forces in recent months refused to even talk over the phone, saying the authorities had put their cell numbers under surveillance. Their fears do not appear unfounded as about a dozen scribes, including those working for national media from Srinagar, have faced coercive government action for performing their duties.