February 14, 2022
Mr. Manoj Sinha
Lieutenant Governor, Jammu and Kashmir
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Dear Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha,
We, the undersigned 58 press freedom organizations, human rights organizations, and publications write to request your urgent intervention to secure the immediate release of Fahad Shah, editor of the online news portal The Kashmir Walla, from jail, and the withdrawal of all police investigations launched into his journalistic work.
On February 4, authorities arrested Shah at the Pulwama police station, where he had been summoned earlier that day for questioning. The first information report states that Shah is being investigated for alleged sedition and making statements causing public mischief, and unlawful activities under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Prior to his arrest, police had questioned Shah regarding The Kashmir Walla’s coverage of a gunfight between government forces and militants.
Shah is well known to many in South Asia and around the world as a journalist of high integrity. His writing for The Nation magazine was recognized at the 2021 Human Rights Press Awards. His reporting on events in Jammu and Kashmir is a public service, not a crime, and should be protected under Indian law.
We also urge you to arrange the immediate release of other detained Kashmiri journalists– Sajad Gul, Aasif Sultan, and Manan Gulzar Dar – all of whom, like Shah, have been jailed under anti-terror or preventative detention laws in apparent retaliation for their work.
Since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s political autonomy in August 2019, press freedom and rights groups have documented numerous incidents of detentions and threats to journalists in the region. In view of this, the release of Fahad Shah and other arbitrarily detained journalists is a critical step to prevent further criminalization of the profession in Jammu and Kashmir.
We urge you to ensure that authorities drop their retaliatory investigations into all four journalists, withdraw any unwarranted charges brought against them, and allow Kashmiri members of the press to work freely without facing detention, harassment, and other forms of government reprisal.
Signed:
Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
Ambedkar King Study Circle
Ambedkar International Center
Aotearoa Alliance of Progressive Indians
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC)
Committee Against Assault on Journalists (CAAJ)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Council on Minority Rights in India (CMRI)
C19 People’s Coalition
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
Digipub News India Foundation
Forum Against Oppression of Women, Mumbai
Foundation The London Story
Free Press Unlimited
Free Speech Collective
Friends of India, Texas
German Indian Alliance for Peace
Global South Against Xenophobia
Himal Southasian
Hindus for Human Rights
Human Rights Law Network
Human Rights Watch
The Humanism Project
India Solidarity Germany
Indian American Muslim Council
Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ)
Indian Journalists Union (IJU)
Insider, Inc.
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
International Press Institute
International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India)
Jammu and Kashmir Journalists Association (JAKJA)
Jacobin
Journalist Federation of Kashmir (JFK)
Justice for All, Canada
Justice for All, USA
Kashmir Working Journalists Association
The Nation
Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI)
Overseas Press Club of America
PEN America
People Against Apartheid and Fascism (PAAF)
Press Club of India
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI)
Pulitzer Center
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Rural Indigenous Health, Boston
Scottish Indians for Justice
Semillas Collective
Sikh Human Rights Group
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA)
South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN)
South Asia Peace Action Network (SAPAN)
South Asia Solidarity Group
Turbine Bagh