Biden urged to press Modi over freedom of Kashmiri, other journalists

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] has called on the US government to press India to end a media crackdown and release six detained journalists, four of them from India-administered Kashmir.

A statement from CPJ president Jodie Ginsberg on Wednesday ahead of a state visit to Washington next week by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there had been an increasing crackdown on India's media since he came to power in 2014.

"Journalists critical of the government and the BJP party have been jailed, harassed, and surveilled in retaliation for their work," Ginsberg said.

"India is the world's largest democracy, and it needs to live up to that by ensuring a free and independent media — and we expect the United States to make this a core element of discussions."

The group said Washington should urge India to release six journalists — Aasif Sultan, Gautam Navlakha, Sajad Gul, Fahad Shah, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Irfan Mehraj — who it said were detained in retaliation for their work under draconian security laws.

It highlighted harassment of domestic and foreign media, including through raids and retaliatory income tax investigations launched into critical news outlets.

The statement noted a raid by tax authorities in February on the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai after the government censored a documentary on Modi by the broadcaster.

Press freedom crisis

On Wednesday, CPJ also convened an online panel, "India's Press Freedom Crisis," with opening remarks and moderation by Ginsberg alongside panelists Geeta Seshu, founding editor of the Free Speech Collective watchdog group, Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times newspaper, and Shahina KK, senior editor for Outlook magazine.

The panelists discussed the deterioration of press freedom over the last decade, with Seshu detailing the rise in censorship and "vicious" attacks on the media.

Shahina shared her ongoing battle to fight terrorism charges filed nearly 13 years ago by the Karnataka state government, then led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP], in retaliation for her investigative reporting.

Bhasin spoke about the "effective silence" that Kashmiri journalists have dealt with since the Modi government unilaterally revoked India-administered Kashmir's special autonomy and annexed the region, raising tensions with Pakistan and China — neighbours that also administer parts of the disputed Kashmir.

Crackdown, harassments, restrictions

In recent years, the CPJ said, foreign correspondents had reported increasing visa uncertainties, restricted access to several areas, including India-administered Kashmir, and threats of deportation in retaliation for critical reporting.

The CPJ also cited a media crackdown in Kashmir, including the use of preventative detention, terrorism and criminal cases, travel bans and raids.

CPJ said at least 62 journalists have been killed in India in connection with their work since 1992 and India ranked 11th on CPJ’s 2022 impunity index, with unsolved cases of at least 20 journalists killed in the decade to August last year.

In addition, there are restrictions on digital media, including using the IT Rules, 2021 to censor critical journalism.

India led the world in internet shutdowns for the fifth year in 2022, impeding press freedom and the ability of journalists to work freely.