by freespeechcollective | May 7, 2025 | Censorship - The Arts
Santosh won accolades in film festivals. But Indian audiences will not get to see it. Its creators refused to comply with the Central Board of Film Certification’s demands for edits that would cut out vital scenes. An impassioned report from Maitreyee Boruah* ....
by freespeechcollective | Apr 11, 2025 | Arrests - Journalists, Statements
On 11 April 2025, on the 1000th day of the incarceration of Jharkhand based freelance journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, more than a hundred journalists, academics, social workers, students and other citizens...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 9, 2025 | Arrests - Others, Commentaries
A moving poem by student activist Gulfisha Fatima is the focus of a campaign by citizens groups on the fifth anniversary of her incarceration. A special FSC report recaps the cases lodged against her and her attempt to keep up with her poetry and focus on teaching...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 6, 2025 | Statements
The Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) registered their strong objections to the proposed Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024. citing concerns that the bill will impact press freedom. The proposed Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, was...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 6, 2025 | Statements
There is now at least a decade long history of the stifling of dissent at Universities in India.Teachers and students alike have borne the brunt of increasingly hostile administrations, which believe in resorting to strong-arm measures at the slightest hint of...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 26, 2025 | Statements
Statement issued by PUCL National and PUCL Maharashtra State unit.26TH MARCH, 2025 PUCL condemns the targeting of comedian Kunal Kamra and the vandalism by Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) at The Habitat, Mumbai! The PUCL condemns the targeting of comedian Kunal Kamra, for...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 26, 2025 | Statements
Assam Women Journalists’ ForumEquality, Empowerment, Excellence Press Release26.03.2025 The Assam Women Journalists’ Forum condemns the detention and subsequent arrest of journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder and demands his immediate release. The detention of...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 22, 2025 | Commentaries
The Bombay High Court order upholding the suspension of TISS scholar KS Ramadas raises important questions about the extent of free speech allowed to students. The Bombay High Court order upholding the two-year suspension of Tata Institute of Social Sciences...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 18, 2025 | Statements
INDIA ACADEMIC FREEDOM NETWORK (IAFN) STATEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PROTESTING STUDENTS OF JAMIA AND AGAINST SURVEILLANCE, REPRESSION AND SUSPENSIONS India Academic Freedom Network (IAFN) stands in solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Delhi...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 18, 2025 | Censorship
by Vinta Nanda (First published on The Daily Eye, 16 February 2025. Republished with permission.) As censorship tightens and expression is choked, storytellers face an existential crisis. With creativity shackled by morality and control, is the death of storytelling...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 8, 2025 | Statements
National Alliance of Journalists (Regd.)DELHI UNION OF JOURNALISTS (Regd.)Flat No.29, Central Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi-1Phone: 23413459, Email: duj.delhi@gmail.com 28 January 2025 PRESS RELEASE Newspaper Day: In Defence of Fair Working Conditions And Labour...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 1, 2025 | Commentaries
While sweeping provisions with hefty fines and jail terms are hugely problematic, the drafting of the document without broader consultation is equally troubling. – By Sanjeev Satgainya On January 30, as Nepal marked Martyrs’ Day to honor those who...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 31, 2025 | National Security - Journalists
Police officers’ 2022 warning haunts journalist’s wife Ipsa as Supreme Court rejects bail plea in Maoist case (Reprinted with permission from www.themooknayak.com) Ramgarh/Jharkhand – The Supreme Court on January 27 closed another door to freedom for...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 31, 2025 | National Security - Journalists
ईप्सा रूपेश की रिहाई को लेकर आशंकित है और उन्हें निकट भविष्य में अपने पति के घर लौटने की आस नहीं है. (Reprinted with permission from www.themooknayak.com) रामगढ़/झारखण्ड- सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने जनपक्षीय पत्रकार रूपेश कुमार सिंह की जमानत याचिका को खारिज कर दिया है। 27 जनवरी...
by freespeechcollective | Dec 9, 2024 | Statements
On Human Rights Day on Dec 10, civil society organisations have called for a nation-wide campaign to protest the FIR against journalist and AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and another FIR against human rights activist Nadeem Khan. Mohd Zubair Nadeem Khan A...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 18, 2024 | Censorship - Protests/Meetings
In a shocking instance of blatant muscle and might, activists of the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, forced the cancellation of the peacefully and legally organised Udaipur Film Festival on...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 8, 2024 | Attacks - Journalists
By Geeta Seshu When journalist Sandip Mahajan was mercilessly beaten up by alleged supporters of Pachora MLA Kishor Appa Patil (Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena) on Aug 9, 2023, he never imagined that it would be an uphill task to get justice. But his struggle even to get a...
by freespeechcollective | Oct 4, 2024 | Killings - Journalists
Barely four days before Haryana goes to the polls on Oct 5, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda religious order convicted of rape of devotees and the murder of journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrrapati, was granted a 20-day parole. Leave alone the polls,...
by freespeechcollective | Oct 1, 2024 | Arrests - Others
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemns the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and about 150 Ladakhi Padyatris by the Delhi police and the arbitrary imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS by the Delhi Police Commissioner....
by freespeechcollective | Sep 7, 2024 | Statements
The Delhi Union of Journalists has issued a statement on the increasing attacks on journalists in Uttarakhand, Kolkata and Delhi, the mass layoffs in India Today and the UP government’s new media policy to pay influencers close to the government and punish those...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 6, 2024 | Internet Control
The Delhi High Court’s contempt notice against Wikipedia started off as a hearing on a face off between the news agency Asian News International (ANI) and Wikipedia but is fast sliding into a freedom of speech issue for the online encyclopedia. The dispute over...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 4, 2024 | Statements
“There is an urgent need for the Government of Kerala to draft a policy and/or law/s that will address the multiple issues identified by the Hema Committee and the related representations made by WCC over the years, ” said an appeal to the Kerala Chief...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 28, 2024 | Commentaries
rafapress/Shutterstock by Timothy Koskie* (Republished from The Conversation )** When Pavel Durov arrived in France on his private jet last Saturday, he was greeted by police who promptly arrested him. As the founder of the direct messaging platform Telegram, he was...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 27, 2024 | Threats - Journalists
“Why are you reporting so much on this rape case? You are behaving as if you have been raped,” said Waman Mhatre, the former Mayor of Badlapur, to Mohini Jadhav, a journalist with the Marathi daily Sakal. Mhatre accosted her while she was on her way to cover...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 11, 2024 | Commentaries
Note: The article “Prajwal Revanna Case, Sexual Violence & Leaked Videos : Tackling the Continuing Arc of Abuse” by technologist Rohini Lakshané, gathered widespread attention as it dealt with the pernicious issue of viral videos of abusive sexual...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 10, 2024 | Commentaries
Note: The article “Prajwal Revanna Case, Sexual Violence & Leaked Videos : Tackling the Continuing Arc of Abuse” by technologist Rohini Lakshané*, gathered widespread attention as it dealt with the pernicious issue of viral videos of abusive sexual...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 2, 2024 | Commentaries
(Editorial, PUCL Bulletin, Aug 01, 2024. Reprinted with permission) Erasure of Evidence of an Undeclared Emergency The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 24, 2024 | Commentaries
Delhi High Court orders Take Down of ‘False and Malicious’ Reports The Delhi High Court, in an ad interim injunction, has ordered that nine false, malicious and defamatory URLs of reports and posts on television channels Karma News and Jana TV and newspaper...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 12, 2024 | Censorship - Social Media
The FIRs lodged against freelance journalists Zakir Ali Tyagi and Wasim Akram Tyagi for tweeting that a scrap seller, Firoze Qureshi, was a victim of mob lynching, have confirmed fears of the new criminal laws being misused to curb free speech. They also...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 2, 2024 | Commentaries
Bebaak Collective’s report, Behind the Pixels: Social Silencing and Isolation of Indian Muslims in the Online Public, report throws light on the nature and prevalence of digital hate and violence against women. It documents and understands the ways in which Indian...
by freespeechcollective | Jun 14, 2024 | Commentaries
Former Member of Parliament Prajwal Revanna is in jail, accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women, but thousands of videos of the alleged assaults are freely available. Technologist Rohini Lakshané* explains how the free circulation of abusive content can...
by freespeechcollective | Jun 11, 2024 | Commentaries
How people with limited journalistic understanding are ruling television newsrooms. By Kajal Iyer* In the past, which now seems rather distant, a ‘consulting editor’ in a newspaper or a television channel referred to someone who had years of experience or a specific...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 21, 2024 | Censorship - Academia
The prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has taken its censorship of student activities onto a new level: it has suspended and debarred student leader Ramadas Prini Sivanandan for participating in protests against the BJP’s policies! Ramadas, a Dalit...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 22, 2024 | Censorship - Protests/Meetings
“I Too Am Rani Chennamma”, a national campaign to commemorate 200 years of the courageous rani of Kittur in present day Karnataka, was disallowed by Uttar Pradesh police on the specious claim that it violated the model code of conduct! The programme, which...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 5, 2024 | Censorship - Academia, Censorship - Publications
In a shocking development, the entire editorial board of the Murty Classical Library of India series has been dismissed! The chair of the Oversight Board Prof Parimal Patil of Harvard University dismissed the editorial board “without cause, explanation of...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 3, 2024 | Commentaries
By Manish Modi Do bans have a place in a democracy? Especially in a secular democratic republic like India? Bans only provide a stage for macho posturing and blatant bullying, which in any case happens frequently enough on its own. Why give the bullies another excuse?...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 3, 2024 | Censorship - News Media
“That reporting now needs prior permission, and is guided by district authorities is a worrying measure of our democracy. ” Sabah Gurmat’s account of government attempts to restrict access and control narratives of violence and administrative failure in Haldwani is...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 16, 2024 | Statements
“Please find below my statement. I am writing these words in tears. Today, I am leaving India, the country where I came 25 years ago as a student, and where I have worked for 23 years as a journalist. The place where I married, raised my son, and which I call my...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 1, 2024 | Censorship - Academia
Students and faculty from IIT Bombay held a unique protest of the abrupt cancellation of the lecture by linguist scholar Ganesh Devy on Thursday. Here is an account by Shyama Iyer. They read out extracts from his book outside the venue of the meeting. The institute...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 25, 2024 | Censorship - News Media
The Indian government’s over-sensitivity towards adverse global media coverage just found another target: a french journalist with an OCI card ! In a surprising move, the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian government issued a notice to French journalist...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 12, 2024 | Censorship - Social Media
In a partial victory for journalist Shyam Meera Singh, Justice Jasmeet Singh of the Delhi High Court, in a hearing on Jan 10, 2024, ordered the removal of the video from all social media platforms within 24 hours but permitted him to upload a fresh video with a...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 4, 2024 | Censorship - News Media, Censorship - Social Media
On Thursday, Jan 4, 2024, journalist Shyam Meera Singh faces a court in Delhi to decide whether his Youtube programme “How Gurmeet Ram Rahim fooled his Bhakts?” should be taken down, pending hearing of a civil defamation case filed by the chief of the religious order,...
by freespeechcollective | Dec 24, 2023 | Commentaries
With unabated attacks on users, activists fear the Right to Information (RTI) is more constricted than ever before, its ambit systematically whittled down by laws and policies, says Ashutosh M Shukla. For the empowering RTI Act which celebrated its adulthood this...
by freespeechcollective | Dec 23, 2023 | Commentaries
With literally no serious debate and a deafening silence on important issues, why is media coverage so dismal, asks Kajal Iyer. This past week, three important new criminal laws sailed through the Lok Sabha with nary a concern. A few days before, an attack took place...
by freespeechcollective | Dec 3, 2023 | Internet Control, Video
Film associations and certain filmmakers in Kerala are seeking regulation of online film reviews, fearing that unfavourable comments will adversely affect the box office. The Kerala High Court, responding to two petitions seeking guidelines for online film critics and...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 29, 2023 | Statements
Media Star World, a popular news channel on Youtube, was abruptly terminated on Monday morning (27 November 2023) by YouTube without any warning message. Following an appeal (see press release below) by the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), YouTube restored the...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 27, 2023 | Commentaries
Prabir Purkayastha, founder editor of the news portal, ‘Newsclick’, was arrested on Oct 4, 2023, under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, along with the Human Resources head of the company, Amit Chakrabarty, after Delhi police raided...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 22, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists, National Security - Journalists
Finally, some justice for journalists Sajjad Gul and Fahad Shah, both in jail from January 16 and February 4, 2022 respectively. While bail was granted to “The Kashmirwalla” Editor Fahad Shah, charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA),1967, for an...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 21, 2023 | Commentaries
The unjustified bail conditions imposed on human rights activist Vernon Gonsalves and lawyer Arun Ferreira in the Bhima Koregaon case strikes at their right to privacy and further curtails their liberty. An analysis on the implications of the bail conditions from the...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 20, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
Even as the bail application of Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah comes up before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 25, the news portal’s website has been blocked and all its social media platforms have also gone blank. https://twitter.com/tkwmag?lang=en...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 7, 2023 | Killings - Others
PUCL Maharashtra has come out strongly on the multiple murders by the RPF constable Chetan Singh and said that “Increasing hate propaganda is hurtling the Indian society down such a dangerous path, where even a police officer from Railway Protection Force (RPF)...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 3, 2023 | Statements
RTI activists have slammed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 for its regressive amendments proposed to the RTI Act and the lack of independence and autonomy of the oversight body- the Data Protection Board. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha today...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 10, 2023 | Censorship - Academia
Prof Kham Khan Suan Hausing, charged with promoting enmity after his interviews in the media on the conflict in Manipur (Editor’s Note: The unrest in Manipur since early May 2023 has shown no signs of abating, with violence and tension–between the majority...
by freespeechcollective | Jun 13, 2023 | Statements
Ten members of the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) South Asia have resigned from their membership of the club in protest of the club president S Venkat Narayan’s three-day visit to Myanmar on the invitation of a newspaper supported by the military junta. FCC...
by freespeechcollective | Jun 2, 2023 | National Security - Journalists
The 279th report of the Law Commission has recommended the retention of sedition in Art 124A of the Indian Penal Code and has proposed that the punishment for sedition be increased to life imprisonment or for a term of upto seven years or with a fine. The report of...
by freespeechcollective | May 31, 2023 | Internet Control
In Manipur, even as the ethnic violence continues unabated, information has been a major casualty. Journalist Ninglun Hanghal, told Free Speech Collective that the scale of violence was unimaginable and the Internet shutdown has contributed to peoples’ misery as it...
by freespeechcollective | May 22, 2023 | Censorship - Social Media
Having just shaken off a regime that was notoriously intolerant of criticism, citizens of Karnataka might have thought they could breathe – and speak – freely. Not so. Siddhararamaiah takes oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka in the name of ‘Truth’. The...
by freespeechcollective | May 3, 2023 | Commentaries
Welcome to Kashmir! The tourist paradise! What do we see in Kashmir? What do we hear? What do we know of this beautiful paradise on Earth? A Free Speech Collective campaign for World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2023 Media Freedom in Kashmir after Art.370 abrogation What...
by freespeechcollective | May 2, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
What is the state of media freedom in Kashmir after the abrogation of Art.370 on Aug 4, 2019? On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, 2023, here is a glimpse – culled from articles, reports and research papers published in Free Speech Collective from August...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 29, 2023 | Commentaries
Even as the Supreme Court examines the issues raised in petitions against hate speech by hindutva organisations in Maharashtra, sections of the media continue to broadcast programmes and publish reports that seek to misrepresent, disinform and openly incite bias or...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 26, 2023 | Killings - Journalists
A media blackout, a ban on television crew, externment notices and a massive police force – the Maharashtra government has unleashed all these and more, in its arsenal to break the staunch resistance of villagers to a refinery project in the Konkan . Though...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 21, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists, General - Journalists
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal has slammed the detention of Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah under the draconian Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978 as a deprivation of his constitutional and legal rights. Shah was arrested on February 4, 2022 and has faced...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 12, 2023 | Censorship - The Arts
Rapper Rajesh Mungase, who faced charges of defamation and inciting public mischief, obtained interim protection from arrest till April 25. Mungase’s video had raised issues about the injustice meted out to the common people and did not target any person...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 6, 2023 | Threats - Others
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat As Karnataka polls were declared last week, the police administration in Mangalore was quick to withdraw the security provided to eminent rationalist and President of, Federation of Indian Rationalist Association ( FIRA) Dr Narendra Nayak since...
by freespeechcollective | Apr 4, 2023 | Censorship - Social Media
This may seem like a no-brainer for those who know and salute the life of the 23-year-old revolutionary leader Shaheed Bhagat Singh, hanged on March 23, 1931. But for Meta’s Oversight Board, which adjudicates over content moderation decisions on Facebook and...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 22, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists
Journalist Irfan Mehraj’s pinned tweet says : There are hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit families who never left #Kashmir. My story with@khalidHkhan_looks at their experiences in conflict-marred Valley, and how they have survived amid controversy sparked by...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 17, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
by Geeta Seshu High irony indeed, but a public meeting on a media blackout in Kashmir was literally blacked out by Delhi police. The Campaign Against State Repression, a loose coalition of over 35 organisations representing students, workers and civil society,...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 16, 2023 | General - Others
The externment proceedings initiated against Tabrez Ali Sayed, the well known youth activist of the Save Aarey movement, has turned into a tool of censorship, fear members of the movement. Adding to the atmosphere of intimidation, Aarey police have registered First...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 14, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists, National Security - Journalists
Journalist Siddique Kappan arrived home in Kerala yesterday evening after more than twoyears in a UP jail under a UAPA case registered by the UP police. He was accompanied by his wife Raihanath Kappan and D Dhanasumod, secretary of the KUWJ Delhi unit on his flight...
by freespeechcollective | Mar 6, 2023 | Statements
More than 800 film-makers and other supporters expressed their solidarity with film-makers Debalina Majumder and Shabnam Virmani, after their films Gay India Matrimony and Had-Anhad were stopped from being screened at the Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Odisha, last...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 28, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
Part II One of the biggest casualties of the administration’s massive crackdown against journalists Kashmir is that many important stories remain hidden or half-told. There are hardly an investigative stories of the disempowered, issues related to environment, global...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 27, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
Part I Jism par qaid hai jazbaat pe zanjeerein hainFikr mehboos hai guftaar pe taazerein hain (With caged bodies and chained emotionsImprisoned are our thoughts and utterances censored) This verse from Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s epic poem, Chand Roz Aur Meri Jaan, encapsulates...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 10, 2023 | Killings - Journalists
Pandarinath Amberkar, accused in the killing of journalist Shashikant Warishe, had tried to kill environmental activist, Narendra Joshi, with a huge stone outside the Rajapur Session Court in September last year! Joshi, general secretary of the Refinery Virodhi...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 9, 2023 | Killings - Journalists
“I decided not to give him a byline for the refinery reports as I had some doubts about the backlash, “ said Sadashiv Kerkar, editor of Mahanagari Times, referring to the last story written by Shashikant Warishe before he was mowed down and crushed by a vehicle...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 8, 2023 | Killings - Journalists
Rajapur police have arrested Pandarinath Amberkar, the land dealer who callously mowed down journalist Shashikant Warishe, under Sec 302 (Punishment for murder.—Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or [imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 7, 2023 | Killings - Journalists
In a shocking incident, journalist Shashikant Warishe was mowed down and crushed by a vehicle allegedly driven by Pandharinath Amberkar, a local land-dealer and accused in several land grab cases in the controversial Barsu refinery in the western Konkan region of...
by freespeechcollective | Feb 2, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists
Finally! After 850days in custody in jails in Uttar Pradesh for the “crime” of traveling to cover a ghastly and tragic crime of the gang-rape and death of a dalit woman in Hathras, Siddique Kappan walks out to freedom. Flanked by his wife, Raihanath and...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 21, 2023 | Censorship - News Media
What are the Emergency powers that have allegedly been invoked to block tweets and videos on Youtube relating to the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question”? “One area where I have been very weak, and that was to handle the media” -then...
by freespeechcollective | Jan 5, 2023 | Arrests - Journalists
Manan Dar, photojournalist from Kashmir, has secured bail after more than 14 months in jail. He was arrested on terror charges under the draconian UAPA but Additional Sessions Judge Shailender Malik said the allegation made by the NIA “does not appear to be cogent and...
by freespeechcollective | Nov 2, 2022 | Commentaries
The UN-observed International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Nov 2 marks the struggle for justice for the killings of scores of journalists across the world. The UN reports that, between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 20, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists
An FSC focus on journalists in custody . Time flies – yet it seems as if things are stuck in a terrifying time loop. It’s been over seven months since the arrest of prominent Kashmiri journalist, Fahad Shah. Shah is the editor-in-chief of The Kashmir Walla (TKW)...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 19, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists
More delay in the release of journalist Siddique Kappan! The bail application in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case came up today and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its response to the bail application and sought an adjournment as Additional...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 12, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists, National Security - Journalists
Journalist Siddique Kappan was produced before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow today but, with stringent bail conditions – to get two local residents to stand surety persons with a cash bond of Rs One Lakh each – he went back to...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 9, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists, National Security - Journalists
The Chief Justice of India UU Lalit asked a pertinent question about journalist Siddique Kappan, currently incarcerated in Lucknow jail on terror charges, one that should apply to all cases of journalists wrongly arrested for pursuing their professional work :...
by freespeechcollective | Sep 9, 2022 | Internet Control
The Supreme Court of India issued notice to the Union Government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Software Freedom Law Center, India (SFLC.in) challenging the imposition of Internet Shutdowns to prevent cheating in examinations in the five states of...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 29, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists, National Security - Journalists
The Supreme Court has posted the bail application filed by journalist Siddique Kappan for final disposal on September 9, 2022. The apex court issued notice on the petition filed by Kappan, challenging the rejection of his bail application by the Lucknow bench of the...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 26, 2022 | National Security - Journalists
Journalist Siddique Kappan moved a special leave petition before the Supreme Court of India challenging the rejection of his bail plea by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. On a plea moved on his behalf by Adv Haris Beeran, a bench presided over by the...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 24, 2022 | Statements
The statement by Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) on the attack on writer Salman Rushdie brings to the fore the issue of blasphemy and on the freedoms enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Progressive Muslims and leading members of Secular Civil Society...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 21, 2022 | Commentaries
This article has been republished with permission. Today’s censorship wars are part of the larger culture wars driven by white evangelical Christians, a large part of the Republican activist base. They are waging an apparently coordinated campaign against a woman’s...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 15, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists
“Greetings Dear Audience, Happy Independence Day from my heart to all. I am daughter of Siddique Kappan, journalist put inside a dark cell violating all freedom of a citizen….” Journalist Siddique Kappan’s nine-year old daughter, Mehnaz, gave a...
by freespeechcollective | Aug 4, 2022 | National Security - Journalists
After more than 22 months in prison for merely travelling to the village of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to cover a gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman, Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan was told by Justice Krishna Pahal of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 18, 2022 | Arrests - Journalists
His latest report was on the impact of smoke and ashes from the factories in the Girdih district of Jharkhand. Rupesh reported how factories in the area had led to health disasters in the area. By Vishad Kumar (Republished from GauriLakeshNews with permission) Rupesh...
by freespeechcollective | Jul 15, 2022 | Censorship - News Media
Additional Sessions Judge Devendra Kumar Jangala of the Delhi District Court granted bail to AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and said that “free speech is the proper foundation of a democratic society.” Zubair was arrested on June 27, 2022 after an...
by freespeechcollective | Oct 31, 2018 | Killings - Journalists
Update: On Sept 5, 2022, five years after Gauri Lankesh was killed, the case came up before a trial court hearing the case against the 18 persons accused of her murder. The accused are lodged in Bengaluru, Yeravada and Mumbai prisons. The next date for the hearing is...
by freespeechcollective | May 12, 2025 | Statements
The Bihar journalists’ community strongly condemns the rude and intimidating behaviour of District Public Relations Officer (DPRO), Gupteshwar Kumar. In a recent incident, he assaulted Pramod Kumar, reporter of Dainik Bhaskar, a prominent Hindi newspaper,...
by freespeechcollective | May 12, 2025 | Statements
बिहार के नालंदा जिला, जो मुख्यमंत्री नीतीश कुमार का भी गृह जिला है, में एक निरंकुश और अभद्र जिला जनसंपर्क पदाधिकारी (डीपीआरओ) गुप्तेश्वर कुमार के तानाशाही रवैए से जिले और पूरे बिहार के पत्रकारों में बेहद आक्रोश है। वे लगातार पत्रकारों के खबर संकलन के कार्य में बाधा...
by freespeechcollective | May 3, 2025 | Statements
(Reprinted with permission from Pahalgam terror attack: NWMI demands that criminal charges against political commentators be dropped – NWM India) The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) condemns the levelling of absurd and draconian charges of subversive...
