India

2013

  

Indian journalists attacked while covering hospital violence

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…

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Indian policemen beat an opposition activist during a protest outside the Odisha state chief minister's office in Bhubaneswar, India, on March 25. (AP/Biswaranjan Rout)

Indian law enforcement unaccountable in journalist attacks

Anyone who has been to India or is familiar with the country knows how chaotic it can be: from the congestion on the streets of Delhi to the messy way in which democracy functions. And for journalists, covering the chaos of India can be risky business. This week alone, Indian law enforcement officials assaulted two…

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V.K. Anand, lawyer for Ram Singh, a man on trial for the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student aboard a New Delhi bus, addresses the media outside a hospital in New Delhi on March 11 after Singh was found dead in prison. (AP/Saurabh Das)

In India, media gag order on rape trial lifted

In a welcome move, Indian media will finally be allowed to cover court proceedings in the rape case that shook India’s conscience. On Friday, the Delhi High Court lifted a gag order on media covering the ongoing trial of those accused of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi in December. 

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Indian reporter who filmed attack on women free on bail

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…

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Dinesh Choudhary was attacked after reporting on illegal tobacco sales. Above, chewable tobacco is displayed at a roadside vendor near New Delhi. (AP/Saurabh Das)

Journalist, family, attacked with acid in India

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.

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Jail for reporting on women in Mangalore, Mogadishu

Today marks International Women’s Day. Hashtags like #IWD and #InternationalWomensDay have been trending on Twitter. Among the twitterati who voiced their support for women’s rights was Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He tweeted:  PM: Let me reiterate in this House the commitment of our govt. to ensuring the dignity, safety and security of every woman…

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Court frees Indian journalist held on terrorism charges

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.

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Under Hindu right, attacks on press rise in Karnataka

Confusion surrounds the case of imprisoned Indian journalist Naveen Soorinje, who was jailed for exposing an attack on young men and women last summer by extremists belonging to the Hindu Jagran Vedike, self-appointed moral police in coastal Karnataka. Soorinje’s report helped lead to the arrest of dozens of attackers. But Karnataka state–ruled by the Hindu…

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Attacks on the Press in 2012: India

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…

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

  Killed in 2012: A Worldwide Roundup The number of journalists killed in the line of duty rose sharply in 2012, as the war in Syria, a record number of shootings in Somalia, continued violence in Pakistan, and a worrying increase in Brazilian murders contributed to a 49 percent increase in deaths from the previous…

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2013