Committee to Protect Journalists - India

Indian cameramen attacked covering political clash

2013-06-11T20:03:01Z

New York, June 11, 2013--Indian authorities should bring to justice the perpetrators of an attack on three cameramen in Kolkata, capital of eastern West Bengal state, on Friday, in which one reporter was almost burned alive, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Three newspaper employees stabbed to death in India

2013-05-20T17:55:11Z

New York, May 20, 2013--Two unidentified assailants on Sunday stabbed to death three employees of a Bengali-language Indian daily in Agartala, the capital of the northeastern state of Tripura, according to news reports.

Provincial journalist killed in eastern India

2013-04-29T20:00:23Z

New York, April 29, 2013--Part-time reporter Jitendra Singh was killed Saturday in Khunti district, Jharkhand state, according to news reports. Members of the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a breakaway Maoist faction, claimed responsibility, but the motive is unclear. Singh also ran a construction business.

Indian journalists attacked while covering hospital violence

2013-04-09T17:32:44Z

Several journalists were attacked in an altercation with doctors and medical interns outside the Agartala Government Medical College in the state of Tripura on April 5, 2013, according to news reports. The journalists had arrived on the scene to cover allegations by family members of a patient who the relatives said had died of improper treatment, the reports said.

Indian reporter who filmed attack on women free on bail

2013-03-25T16:20:01Z

New York, March 25, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release on bail of Naveen Soorinje, a television reporter jailed for more than four months after documenting a large-scale assault on a group of young women in Karnataka state. CPJ considers the pending criminal charges to be baseless and retaliatory, and calls on authorities to drop them immediately.

Journalist, family, attacked with acid in India

2013-03-13T19:14:07Z

New York, March 13, 2013--A journalist and his family were attacked with acid Tuesday in India's western state of Maharashtra, allegedly in connection with his reporting on illegal tobacco sales, according to local media.

Court frees Indian journalist held on terrorism charges

2013-02-27T20:42:03Z

Police arrested Muthi-Ur-Rahman Siddiqui on August 29, 2012, and accused him of being involved in a terror plot to kill Hindu nationalist leaders and journalists in Bangalore, in the southern state of Karnataka. Siddiqui worked as a reporter for the Deccan Herald and covered higher education.

Attacks on the Press in 2012: India

2013-02-14T05:05:08Z

Violence plagued journalists in northeastern Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, including four attacks on the Arunachal Times. Tongam Rina, a columnist for the paper, survived a shooting that put her in intensive care for a time. The authorities blocked hundreds of websites they claimed incited ethnic and religious protests in Assam and beyond, but the blocking also affected numerous online news outlets, along with sites that were rebutting calls for violence. The September arrest of anti-graft cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on sedition, insult, and other charges outraged civil society. Trivedi made bail as the sedition charge was dropped, but at least two freelance journalists facing anti-state charges remained in jail without trial for more than a year. A third reporter was imprisoned in late year on retaliatory charges filed after he exposed assaults on young women in Karnataka state. India placed 12th on CPJ’s Impunity Index of countries that fail to solve journalist murders. A botched inquiry into the 2011 killing of Jyotirmoy Dey was seen as emblematic of the failure. In Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, assailants obstructed coverage of politics, courts, and religion. Nationwide, coverage of corruption was risky: Rajesh Mishra was slain in March for reporting on financial irregularities in Madyha Pradesh schools. In May, Jharkhand authorities threatened videographer Mukesh Rajak for asking questions about local expenditures. Twenty-five percent of journalists killed in India since 1992 covered corruption.

Attacks on the Press: Killed in 2012: A Worldwide Roundup

2013-02-14T05:04:35Z

Kashmir restricts cable TV, Internet service

2013-02-11T19:33:32Z

Authorities in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on February 9, 2013, ordered citizens to remain indoors and restricted mobile Internet service and cable television across several districts in the lead-up to a controversial execution of a militant from the region, according to news reports.

In India, newspaper employee attacked, editions torched

2013-02-08T21:02:29Z

February 8, 2013, New York--Individuals alleged to be part of a right-wing Hindu group attacked an employee of the Mangalore-based Karavali Ale daily on Wednesday, confiscated and torched copies of the paper's editions on Thursday, and threatened news vendors, according to news reports and the head of the media group that owns the paper. The paper had published a front page story linking the Hindu group to drug trafficking, news reports said.

Indian police to charge broadcaster for rape interview

2013-01-04T22:35:34Z

New York January 4, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in India to refrain from pressing charges against a media group that televised an interview with the companion of the Delhi rape victim who died last week. The December 16 case has garnered global attention.

In India, police shoot dead journalist covering protest

2012-12-24T16:09:23Z

New York, December 24, 2012--Indian authorities must immediately investigate the death of a cameraman who was fatally shot by police on Sunday while covering protests against the sexual assault of women. The Associated Press identified the journalist as Dwijamani Singh, a reporter for the news division of the satellite-distributed Prime News channel that covers northeast India. Other reports have provided different spellings of Singh's name.

Indian government should repeal sedition law

2012-12-18T20:39:48Z

Dear Prime Minister Singh: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by Indian authorities' continued abuse of a colonial-era sedition law to stifle freedom of expression. CPJ calls on your government to begin taking action toward repealing the law, section 124A in the Indian penal code, which Indian lawmakers have deemed punitive and outdated.

Indian police arrest reporter who exposed assault

2012-11-09T20:35:36Z

New York, November 9, 2012--An Indian television journalist who documented a large-scale attack on young women and reported the episode to police in Karnataka state has been charged with participating in the assault, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers the arrest to be retaliatory and calls on authorities to drop the criminal charges and release the reporter immediately.