Four months, 22 assaults on the press

BY THE HOOT| IN Media Freedom | 03/05/2016

All over India, journalists at the district level are vulnerable but things are worst in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

THE HOOT updates you on the incidents in 2016

On World Press Freedom Day, The Hoot.org wishes to draw attention to the vulnerability of working journalists in India, particularly those who work at the district level. Three states have been particularly bad for press freedom: Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where defamation cases against the media are routinely filed. But elsewhere too assaults on journalists have been frequent, totaling 22 in the first four months of the year.

Arrests of journalists in Chhattisgarh total four since last July. Two cases of bail in the latest arrests were heard today. The Chhattisgarh High Court admitted the bail applications for Prabhat Singh and Deepak Jasiwal and the cases are expected to come up for hearing in a week’s time, according to the advocate for Singh.

Singh was arrested on March 23, 2016, for sending an allegedly obscene message over a Whatsapp group and Jaiswal was arrested a week later when he went to the police station to inquire about Singh’s arrest. Singh faces four cases, including one with Jaiswal where the duo are charged with cheating and extortion.

The journalist who was set on fire in June 2015 in Shajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh was awarded for his bravery last week by the Mumbai Press Club but there has been no arrest in his case. His children have said they are frightened and have been pressured into withdrawing the case they had filed after the UP government gave them a Rs 30 lakh cash grant and promised one of the sons a job. His younger son and his daughter spoke to The Hoot after the award ceremony.

A summary of incidents relating to press freedom so far in 2016 is given below:

Threats to press freedom: incidents in January-April 2016 involving journalists and publications

Category	Number of cases
Deaths	1
Attacks	22, plus one hostage taking
Threats	5
Police action	6
Legal action	3
Defamation	10 cases, two legal notices

Details of these cases are as below:

Defamation

Tamil Nadu govt files defamation cases against Tamil and English newspapers
2016-01-05

Minister sues Tamil weekly
2016-01-06

Govt. files 4 defamation cases against Tamil weekly
2016-01-13

VCA sends legal notice of defamation to Times of India
2016-01-14

Ministers move defamation cases against Tamil weekly
2016-01-19

Dhoni puts Hindi daily on notice, threatens defamation charges of Rs. 100 crore
2016-02-12

TN Government Files Defamation Complaint Against English Daily
2016-02-15

Chandy files defamation case against Saritha, 4 journalists
8/04/2016

Police action

Umar’s journalist friend quizzed in Delhi
2016-02-22

Delhi Police Arrests Lawyer for Assaulting Journalist and Kanhaiya Kumar
2016-02-24

Cops issue notice to nine journalists
2016-03-02

Chhattisgarh: Journalist arrested for allegedly taking a dig at a cop on WhatsApp
2016-03-23

Another journalist held in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar
2016-03-28

Six Journalists Injured as Police Lathicharge in Jamshedpur
11/04/2016

Deaths

Another Journalist Killed In Uttar Pradesh, Opposition Slams Government
2016-02-15

Legal action

Sexual harassment: R K Pachauri seeks HC action against media houses
2016-02-29

Legal notice to Bloomberg
2016-03-01

Calcutta HC seeks Narada sting video’s raw footage
2016-03-23

Attacks

Attack on journalists in Chennai: DMDK MLA, 18 others arrested
2016-01-04

Journalist attacked for publishing news in Odisha’s Aul
2016-01-07

Man held for brutal attack on scribes
2016-01-13

Journalist Revati Laul Attacked Allegedly By Gujarat Riots Convict
2016-01-21

Siddharth Varadarajan held hostage in Allahabad at VC's office by ABVP
2016-01-21

Journalist`s house attacked in Nalanda
2016-01-23

Journalist attacked in Odisha capital city
2016-01-23

PSOs of JMC Commissioner snatch journalist’s camera
2016-01-28

How a protest for #RohithVemula became a free-for-all for Delhi police
2016-02-01

IIMC-Alumni Association condemns attack on journalist Kishan Barai
2016-02-03

'Don't tarnish the image of the police': Home of Scroll.in contributor attacked in Chhattisgarh
2016-02-08

Journalists attacked by SP goons
2016-02-09

'I kept telling them I'm a journalist but they kept beating me': Photographer beaten at Delhi protest
2016-02-10

Students, journos assaulted near Delhi court hearing JNU sedition case
2016-02-16

JNU row: Lawyers scuffle, attack journalist again at Patiala House court
2016-02-18

2 detained for attacking media vans
2016-03-01

Badal bus staff ‘attack’ reporter with English daily
2016-03-26

West Bengal polls 2016: Left candidate, journalists targeted
04/04/2016

TV journalist assaulted by CRPF men
12/04/2016

Journalists attacked by sand mining mafias in Madhya Pradesh
17/04/2016

Vehicle of India News bureau chief attacked at his residence in Nagpur
17/04/2016

Journalists attacked In Bengaluru
21/04/2016

Sun-stroke deaths: Scribes attacked
22/04/2016

Threats

Freelance journalist questioned over writings on tribals
2016-01-13

Mumbai Police registers case against Twitter user for threatening to rape woman journalist
2016-02-19

Odisha chief of ABVP booked for ‘verbal abuse’ of media persons
2016-02-22

TV news anchor gets 2,000 threat calls after discussion on Mahishasur Jayanti, 5 arrested
2016-03-01

Death threats for Dutt
2016-03-05

Reports

Editors Guild report on Chhattisgarh: ‘Journalists under attack by state, non-state actors’

Amnesty India report: Blackout in Baster

India ranked 133 in World Press Freedom Index

The Hoot is the only not-for-profit initiative in India which does independent media monitoring.

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