India

2019

  
A man reads a newspaper in Allahabad, India, on November 9, 2016. A Bengaluru court recently passed a gag order barring the Indian press and international social media networks from publishing derogatory remarks about a local political candidate. (Reuters/Jitendra Prakash)

Indian court gags news outlets from reporting ‘derogatory’ information about candidate

A Bengaluru court on March 30, 2019, issued a gag order to 44 Indian news outlets as well as Google, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and Yahoo, barring the outlets and platforms from publishing “defamatory and derogatory” content about Tejasvi Surya, a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to independent Indian news website The News Minute.

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A worker dries material for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress Party election campaigns on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, in March. India is due to hold elections from April 11 to May 19. (AFP/Sam Panthaky)

India elections 2019: Journalist safety kit

India is scheduled to hold national and provincial elections from April 11 to May 19, 2019. As the country celebrates over 70 years of democracy, journalists are under pressure from attacks, harassment, cyber bullying, and government restrictions. At least five journalists were killed in relation to their work in India in 2018, including four who…

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A screenshot of The Shillong Times. The Meghalaya state High Court fined the paper's publisher and editor over an opinion piece published in December. (CPJ)

Indian court issues fine, threatens jail time over opinion piece

New York, March 11, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned a fine imposed by the Meghalaya state High Court on the publisher and editor of Meghalaya-based daily The Shillong Times.

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Television journalists are seen outside the premises of the Supreme Court in New Delhi, India, August 22, 2017. The Indian government threatened to invoke Official Secrets Act against two news outlets on March 6, 2019. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)

Indian government threatens to invoke Official Secrets Act against news outlets

The government of Narendra Modi, through Attorney General K K Venugopal, on March 6, 2019, threatened to invoke the Official Secrets Act against daily newspaper The Hindu and news agency Asian News International (ANI) for critical reporting on a fighter jet deal in which the government has been accused of corruption, according to news reports.

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A Kashmiri man reads a newspaper in Srinagar on August 31, 2018. The Kashmiri state government recently removed lucrative advertising from two leading dailies in the region. (Dar Yasin/AP)

Jammu and Kashmir government pulls advertisements from two major newspapers

New Delhi, February 26, 2019–The state government of Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir should reinstate its advertisements in two major local newspapers or provide an acceptable explanation concerning its decision not to do so, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The administration of Governor Satya Pal Malik, who runs the state government after the local…

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Voters line up at a polling station in Sukma in Chhattisgarh state on November 12, 2018. The state's newly elected state minister is setting up a committee to draft a journalist safety law. (AFP)

Chhattisgarh’s plan for journalist safety law could be template for all India

Every day for two years, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav must walk the 50 or so yards from his home to the Darbha village police station in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, to sign a register. Just one missed day could immediately land him back in prison as he awaits trial on anti-terror charges. A police commander said that…

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Journalist Aasif Sultan is seen outside Saddar Court in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on September 8, 2018. (Photo by Muzamil Mattoo)

CPJ calls on Jammu and Kashmir police to drop charges against journalist

New York, February 7, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Jammu and Kashmir police to immediately cease all legal proceedings against journalist Aasif Sultan and release him from jail after local news outlets reported that formal charges were filed against him today.

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Indian police stand guard at the Ayyappa shrine at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala state on January 2, 2019. On January 23, two reporters were attacked while covering the shrine. (Image via AFP)

Indian TV crew assaulted by Hindu far-right protesters over Sabarimala shrine coverage

Two journalists from independent Telugu-language news channel Mojo TV were harassed and assaulted by members of a right-wing group in the city of Hyderabad, India, on January 23, 2019, one of the reporters told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Reporter Prathibha Priyadarshani Mukkera and camera person Bhanu Mudhiraj were covering a protest when demonstrators attacked…

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Kashmiri journalists hold placards during a protest march in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on Saturday, January 26, 2019. Dozens of journalists marched in protest after authorities barred 10 journalists from entering the venue of India's Republic Day parade in the disputed region's main city. (Dar Yasin/AP)

India bars journalists in Jammu and Kashmir from covering Republic Day event

New Delhi, India, January 29, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir to stop restricting press coverage of events in the restive state, after 10 photo and video journalists from local, national, and international media organizations were barred from covering a government function…

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Photojournalist Nisar ul Haq, who was among four journalists injured by pellet-gun fire from Indian security forces on January 22, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Nisar ul Haq)

Four Kashmiri photojournalists hit by pellet-gun fire from Indian security forces

New Delhi, January 23, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir state to fully investigate an incident yesterday in which four photojournalists were hit by pellet-gun fire from security forces in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir state. The journalists were hit while covering a clash between protesters and security forces…

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2019