India

2016

  
Indian security forces face protesters during unrest in Srinagar in September. Journalists are being caught in the crossfire during the recent unrest. (AP/Dar Yasin)

‘It’s worse this time,’ says photographer shot by police during latest Kashmir unrest

For four months, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been under a curfew imposed after protests broke out when Burhan Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a pro-independence militant organization that advocates for Kashmir’s independence from India, was killed in clashes with the Indian army. Journalists have been caught in the crossfire as…

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India's Parliament in New Delhi. A private members' bill to decriminalize defamation will be heard during its winter session. (AFP/Money Sharma)

In India, online campaign seeks to free press from risk of criminal defamation

An online campaign to decriminalize defamation in India is being led by a member of the country’s main opposition party. “Criminal defamation can lead to people being put in jail for something they have said publicly. This law needs to be replaced by a modern, progressive law,” reads the statement on the campaign website.

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Lawyers scuffle outside a Delhi court on Wednesday. Several journalists say they were beaten by lawyers at the court in the past week. (AP/Tsering Topgyal)

Court reporters beaten by lawyers in latest attack on press freedom in India

Attacks this week against journalists covering a high-profile sedition case have heightened concerns about the state of press freedom in India. CPJ has reported frequently on journalists there coming under attack from police, criminals, politicians, and others. Now lawyers have to be added to the list.

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Rahul says he heard police give the order to charge before rushing at students at the Delhi protest. (Rahul M.)

‘I kept telling them I’m a journalist but they kept beating me’: Photographer beaten at Delhi protest

As police cracked down on protesters in Delhi during recent protests over the treatment of Dalits, who occupy the lowest rungs of India’s caste ladder, journalists were caught in the fray. The protests were sparked by the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a student who had been barred from halls of residence and parts of campus,…

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2016