1. Home
2. Front Page

Summoned, slapped, abused, threatened: Kashmir journalist’s nightmare

Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal. Dated: 9/22/2020 11:24:41 AM

Young journalist bears brunt of Cyber Police in Srinagar

JAMMU, Sep 21: Slapped, abused and threatened during a five-hour-long ordeal, Bandipore based AuqibJaved is the latest journalist to bear the brunt of the Cyber Police Srinagar which has summoned about 30 journalists in the last one year and subjected them to questioning about their news stories.
In Auqib’s case, the objection was to the photograph of Cyber Police Station published with the news and its title in web portal ‘Article-14’ on September 18. The photograph of a wrong building, where the office of Superintendent of Police In-charge Cyber Police is located, had been published in error and was replaced as soon as the mistake was pointed out. Does a benign photograph, published erroneously, qualifies for punitive action?
The news report in question was about twitter users who had politically criticized the government being questioned, interrogated, harassed and pressurized by Cyber Police into deactivating their accounts or not posting anything. Similar news had already been reported by several news outlets. The objection was also to the heading of the story which said, “The real cyber bully: Police in Kashmir question twitter users". According to Auqib, the SP was incensed over the use of the word ‘bully’ which the latter felt revealed the police in poor light.
So he was served with verbal summons the same day, asked to report to the Cyber Police Station, was abused by the SP, slapped by a masked cop and grilled for five-hours and forced to convince his editor to change the heading. The motive: the tag ‘bully’ had to be purged from the website. The word, however, ceases to go away from the narrative.
Auqib, in a detailed personal account, has now alleged that he was “slapped, abused and bullied” by the Cyber Police over the story which was based on research. Auqib confirmed that he stood by every word of his earlier news report as well as his personal account which he narrated verbatim on phone to Kashmir Times.
“I had earlier chosen to remain silent because of the fear the incident instilled in me. I was threatened that cases would be slapped against me. I was only doing my job of reporting something that had happened. But the humiliation suffered by me tormented me, I was not at peace with myself and I was unable to concentrate on my work, which is why I decided to share my experience. I also owe it to my other journalist colleagues who are as vulnerable as I am and my silence would add to their vulnerability,” he said.
IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, when contacted over phone, said, “it was all baseless. The Cyber Police today has come out with a rebuttal.” When asked about the allegations of the journalist, he said, “these are just lies. Many of them are doing propaganda,” though he did not specify who he was referring to. Minutes later, in a clarification, he said, he did not know about what had happened at the Cyber Police Station, and that after hearing about the allegations of the journalist, “I have called a meeting with the journalists and the concerned SP Cyber Police tomorrow to sort out the matter.”
In his personal account published in today’s Article-14, AuqibJaved writes about receiving a call from the Cyber Police Station on September 18 asking him to report to the police station the next day, which he did, accompanied by two colleagues from Kashmir Press Club. When they entered the Cargo Centre, their phones were taken. They were frisked and allowed in. They were asked to wait in a room. After some time, a policeman asked Auqib to accompany him. His colleagues were told to wait in the room.
Auqib writes about the beginning of the harrowing ordeal:
I heard the sounds of boots approaching, and as I turned to see who it was, a masked policeman slapped me hard on my left cheek. He did sound like a local. “Kisliyeaayahaitu (why have you come?),” he demanded. Once I recovered from the shock of the slap, I said, “SP saab has called me.” He slapped me hard again and left.
It was the first time I had ever been hit. As I stood there in a fog of shock, I somehow and vaguely rationalised this assault as the cost of doing journalism in Kashmir. I was not the first to be intimidated. Others have had cases filed against them.
Another policeman told me to enter the SP’s room. I went inside shaken, with a hand on my still-stinging left cheek. The thought went over and over in my mind: “How could he do it to me?”
As I entered, SP Bhatti asked: “Who are you?”
I told him, slowly, “Mai Auqibhou, apanebulaya (I am Auqib, you called me).” He got up from his chair and said: “How could you write that cyber police are bullying people?” He demanded to know why I had used a picture of the Cargo center, when it was not the cyber police station, and why I had written a “concocted” story.
He started abusing my mother and sister and kept up the shouting. “Ab maitujhedikhavugasaalay (Now I will teach you a lesson),” he said.
“Bulava city police ko (call the city police),” he told a policeman standing by the door.
I told SP Bhatti that the story was based on fact, but the picture and headline were not up to me but the editors.
''No, this is a fake and baseless story,” he said. “Kashmir is burning because of people like you who spread fake narratives.” He said I had maligned the image of the cyber police, and he threatened to book me under various sections of law.
The account of the reporter further states:
I felt myself starting to shiver, as the SP continued his verbal assault. I told him again that the story was fair and based on facts and that decisions about headline and photographs were taken by the editor.
“Call the editor right now,” said Bhatti, returning my phone to me.
Meanwhile, my two colleagues were called in. The SP told them what his problems with the story were. The conversation went on for about 20 minutes. My colleagues also told him that reporters had nothing to do with decisions about headlines and photographs.
I called Samar Halarnkar, editor and co-founder of Article 14. He spoke to the SP, and there appeared to be some argument over the story.
After disconnecting the call with the editor, the SP said he was going to give us five minutes to decide about the story.
I told my colleagues it appeared he had issues with the headline, the photograph and the story saying the cyber police station was at the Cargo centre. There was no problem, I reiterated, with the story. They told me that they would stand by any decision I took.
I told Bhatti we would request the editor to change the heading and remove the picture of the Cargo centre. He demanded a note about the photo and the note tweeted from the Article-14 account. “Do it immediately,” he ordered.
I called the editor, who quickly put out the note and tweet about the photograph. He was reluctant about the headline change, but given my situation, he agreed. We refused to accept that the story itself was “fake and baseless”, as the SP insisted it was.
My phone was taken away by a policeman, with no reason given.
The SP then told me he had given his “blood and sweat to this institution” and he would not let anyone malign it.
I had no such intention, I said, and I apologised if he was hurt. I kept apologising in the course of the conversation to calm him. I was scared, and I could only think of getting out as soon as possible. My colleagues urged me to be strong.
After a five-hour ordeal, I was asked to sign a letter that my phone was returned to me. They took my press identity card, probably to get a photocopy, and returned it.
Auqib said that his phone had been opened, searched and tampered with and the recording of the telephonic interview of the SP for his earlier story had been deleted. Finally, he and his two colleagues were allowed to leave at 4 PM.
Samar Halarnkar, Article-14 Editor the SP spoke with, said that he talked to him barely for two minutes. “The SP first said that the photo was wrong and I told him that if there was a problem with the photograph, we would make the amendment and acknowledge it, which we do under normal circumstances.” He added, “it was just a small mistake which we would have corrected even if they had messaged us.”
Halarnkar was also told repeatedly that the story was fake. “He kept telling me that the reporter had admitted it was. He said this three times in the course of the conversation. I told him that he had already been quoted in the story and that if he felt there was still some problem, we would be happy to carry his version. But he hung up.”
He added that he was unwilling to change the headline of the report but it was on AuqibJaved’s insistence. “He was terrified and so I had to do it,” he said.
A statement released by the Cyber Police today took an exception to “the news ‘The Real Cyber Bully: Police in Kashmir Question Kashmir Twitter’ published on Article-14 online news portal”. It said that the photograph published with the news was “misleading” and added that the “writer has misled the general public about the functioning of Cyber Police Station and its establishment”. It mentioned that the “writer admitted that the picture published in the article is incorrect and has also admitted that he has no knowledge about the functioning and establishment of Cyber Police Station Kashmir. Further the writer also admitted that he has never visited Cyber Police Station and has no knowledge regarding newly established Cyber Police Station Kashmir at Shergari Complex.”
The statement has come two days after the photograph was changed by the website. The statement also said, “the writer namely Aqib Javeed along with his accompanying senior journalists of Kashmir Press Club asked to meet the SP Incharge Cyber Police Station Kashmir. Finally, the writer accompanying other senior journalists met the SP Incharge Cyber Police Station and showed the tweaked story and regretted for publishing incorrect/ misleading content.”
One of the two Press Club members who had accompanied Auqib to the Cyber Police Station have confirmed the sequence of events at the Cyber Police Station and added that “the incident had really shaken and scared Auqib”.
The fear finds an echo both on Auqib’s write-up and his social media account. In a tweet while sharing the link of his personal account, AuqibJaved writes, “Here is what happened with me at Cargo center in Srinagar. I fear for my life now and if anything happens to me they will be responsible.”
In his personal account he adds:
The experience has left me traumatised, anxious and nervous. I was awake most of that night, haunted by the physical assault and their abuse.
Many of my friends suggested that I speak out immediately. I did not. For a while, I thought I would bury it within my heart and stay silent. But later, I realised my silence would set a precedent and embolden the police to treat other journalists similarly. So I write this, for myself and for my colleagues who often work on the razor’s edge that is journalism in Kashmir.
I know this will make the SP angry again, but I cannot live with the humiliation and the fact that I was pointlessly and illegally made a punching bag.
I want to ask the SP of the Cyber Police: under what law was I summoned, verbally abused and slapped? And what did it have to do with my mother and sister? I spoke to you and quoted you extensively. If you disagreed with any of it, you could have sent a rebuttal. Is that not how your relationship should be with the media?
I am uncertain about what will happen. I write this in great fear. I could be called in again, beaten or worse. Anything is possible in Kashmir. But I am certain about one thing: I stand by my story.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (Asia) in a Tweet, has condemned the “alarming and blatant abuse of power” by J&K police. It said, “police should immediately take action against all officers involved and stop retaliating against critical reporting”.
AuqibJaved’s harrowing experience is not the first of its kind. Summoning journalists to police stations including the Cyber Police Stations, grilling them for hours has now become the norm.
On December 23, Basharat Masood and SafwatZargar, were detained while reporting in Handwara, in north-western Kashmir, and were taken to the police chief’s office, where they were interrogated”. Naseer Ganai and another journalist were summoned for questioning by the Srinagar police on February 8 and were interrogated for four hours about a statement by the outlawed Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front police summarily confiscated the cameras and phones of two TV reporters, Qayoom Khan of CNN News 18 and Qisar Mir of TV9 Bharatvarsh, in Hakripora, a village in Pulwama district, 30 km southeast of the regional capital Srinagar, where they were covering an operation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On April 20 and 21, criminal cases were lodged against senior journalist and commentator Gowhar Geelani, Masarat Zahra (photojournalist) and Ashiq Peerzada. Geelani and Zahra were booked under anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their facebook posts but the cases did not mention any particular posts. A day before that Zahra was summoned by Kashmir’s Cyber Police and questioned about “glorifying anti-national activities” on social media. She answered that she had only been sharing her published work. The case was slapped, nonetheless.
Peerzada Ashiq, Srinagar correspondent of The Hindu was accused by police, on April 20, of reporting “factually incorrect” news that “could cause fear or alarm in the minds of the public” and a criminal case was lodged against him. The case against him did not cite the law that was being allegedly violated. Subsequently, in June and July, editor of Kashmirwalla, Fahad Shah was summoned by the J&K Police twice and grilled for hours, each time, over his report about destruction of 15 houses during an encounter in Srinagar and threatened with cases. “They told me they had an FIR against me but the details were not shared,” he said.
In June this year, the Jammu and Kashmir came out with a new Media Policy 2020, an over 50-page document that gives the government sweeping powers to examine content to identify news items that can be categorized "fake", "plagiarism", "unethical", and "antinational activities". Those found accused of these offences will be punished.
According to the policy, the government would also monitor the content published in newspapers and other media channels and decide what is fake news, anti-social or anti-national reporting. The news organisations involved in “fake, unethical and antinational” reporting would be de-empanelled and not get government advertisements, apart from facing legal action. It’s third main feature is that the government will do a background check of newspaper publishers, editors and key staff mandatory before empanelling them for government advertisements, apart from security clearance before a journalist is given accreditation.
The policy was concretised after over two dozen journalists had received the summons from different police stations and criminal cases had been slapped against at least three journalists. In run up to August 5, 2019 lockdown and re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir, journalist Qazi Shibli was arrested and jailed in a prison in Uttar Pradesh for nine months. He was again picked up and detained for a few days on the anniversary of downgrading of the state and its lost special status. Irfan Malik was also detained for a couple of days in 2019.
Earlier in 2018, award winning journalist, Aasif Sultan, working with the Narrator magazine, was jailed under UAPA for his story on Burhan Wani. He is still in prison and facing trial.
Are threats, criminalization and censorship the price the journalists in Kashmir are paying for doing their jobs?