Indian journalists from The Caravan face police retaliation

Caravan journalists Prabhjit Singh (left), Shahid Tantray and a colleague told police they were attacked by a mob. The reporters are now being investigated for stoking ethnic hostility during the 2020 Delhi riots. (Photos: Courtesy of Prabhjit Singh, Bilal Kuchay)

June 10, 2024, New Delhi – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday urged the Delhi Police to drop its investigations in retaliation against three journalists from The Caravan magazine and instead prosecute those who attacked them during the 2020 Delhi riots.

Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh and an unnamed colleague, who were attacked nearly four years ago, learned this month that police had also launched an investigation into them on charges of promoting ethnic hostility and insulting a woman’s modesty, The Caravan reported.

On August 11, 2020, a mob attacked the journalists in northeast Delhi as they were covering the Delhi riots, the worst communal violence in the capital in decades that left more than 50 people, mostly Muslims, dead. For about 90 minutes, the attackers beat and kicked the journalists, used communal abuse, threatened to kill and sexually harassed the woman until they were rescued by police, The Caravan reported. The journalists filed a complaint later the same day, it said.

But The Caravan has since found that on August 14, police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the journalists – a document that initiated an investigation – based on a complaint from an unnamed woman. An hour later, on August 14, police then registered the FIR of the three journalists based on their complaints filed three days earlier.

“The police have informed us that our FIR will be considered a ‘counter FIR’,” The Caravan said, adding that it was not given a certified copy of the FIR against its employees because it was “sensitive”.

“The actions of the Delhi Police against The Caravan journalists, based on a secret document that was not even made available to them, are deeply disturbing. This is a clear attempt to take revenge on journalists who were themselves victims of a violent mob. The opacity of the entire process is unacceptable,” said Kunal Majumder, CPJ representative in India. “The Delhi Police must ensure a genuine, unbiased investigation into the attack on these journalists, rather than attacking them for doing their job in reporting on horrific sectarian bloodshed. Transparency and justice are paramount to uphold press freedom and democratic values ​​in India.”

The journalists only learned of the case against them on June 3, when police sent a notice to Singh’s former residence asking him to help investigate the three journalists, which he did, according to several news reports.

“The allegations in the FIR are absolutely false and fabricated,” The Caravan said, adding that it had not been given any information about police action to follow up on its journalist’s complaint.

Joy Tirkey, deputy commissioner of police for Northeast Delhi, did not respond to CPJ’s email seeking comment.