It is alleged that while Kappan was infected with Corona, he was handcuffed and kept in the hospital. And police officers claim that they were only under the surveillance of CCTV cameras.
By Vikas Meshram
After 28 months in jail, Malayalam news website journalist Siddique Kappan was released from Lucknow’s district jail. He was arrested on October 5, 2020 while going to the house of the victim of the famous Hathras gang rape case in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government alleged that he was not just a journalist but was actively working for PFI, a banned outfit operating in Kerala and receiving money from abroad in the Hathras case. Along with him, two other protesting students were also arrested. Actually, a month ago he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in a money laundering case. Notably, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court last year in other cases, but could not get bail in the money laundering case. Later, last December, while granting bail, the Allahabad High Court denied allegations that foreign money had been transferred to his account.
However, Kappan’s arrest lasted for a long time. In this context, there is a nationwide discussion on the fundamental rights of journalists, government action, the Supreme Court and freedom of expression. Notably, the Uttar Pradesh government says that the newspaper claiming to be a Kappan reporter has been shut down in 2018. Siddique Kappan, on the other hand, says he works for Azimukham, a Malayalam-language news website, and is the Delhi secretary of the Kerala Working Journalists’ Union. After his arrest many journalist organizations were also active. The issue later became a point of contention between the two states. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting him to intervene in the matter saying that his condition was not good and he should be treated humanely. At the same time, he demanded to be transferred to Kapan Super Specialty Hospital. He said that the general public and journalists in Kerala are concerned about the condition of Brother Kappan and his human rights. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists had also demanded Kappan’s transfer to Delhi. Not only this, the journalists of Kerala had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court and demanded the Supreme Court’s intervention, expressing concern about the Corona crisis and in addition, eleven MPs of Kerala had also written a letter to the then Chief Justice and demanded the immediate release of Kappan.
Notably, Kappan and his three accomplices were charged under the UAPA. U.P. The police argued that Kappan had links with the militant outfit Popular Front of India. The FIR was charged with sedition, inciting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, insulting religious sentiments and inciting people with hatred under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Hence, a case was registered against him under Unlawful Prohibition Act i.e. UPA and Information Technology Act. Along with this, the accused have been accused in the charge sheet of trying to spread unrest in the state through eight lakh rupees received from financial institutions in Doha and Muscat. Apart from this, it was alleged that sensitive information was recovered from Kappan’s laptop and mobile phone.
On the other hand, Kappan says that not only Hathras, he goes to Kashmir and other places for reporting because I am a journalist. A major incident has taken place in Hathras, the body of a rape and violence victim was cremated against the wishes of her family. Kappan says we are not the mouthpiece of the government and should write whatever the government says. If we are in journalism, we have phone numbers of leaders of all social and political organizations in our mobile phones, it does not mean that we are members of those organizations. I will fight further to prove the allegations wrong.
It is alleged that while Kappan was infected with Corona, he was handcuffed and kept in the hospital. And police officers claim that they were only under the surveillance of CCTV cameras. That is why Kappan’s wife wrote to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court saying that the manner in which he was kept in the hospital could endanger his life. However, he was granted bail for five days to see his ailing mother in the meantime. After coming out of prison, Kappan said that he was having trouble reading and writing in prison. They were not given Malayalam and English books. He used to get only Hindi books. They claim that no due process was followed for the charges leveled against them. I will fight against the allegations. In fact, in addition to freedom of the media, a debate has also begun as to why constitutional institutions do not guarantee the protection of individual liberties. It also involves the question of individual freedom.
Speaking to the media after Siddique Kappan’s release, his wife Rehana said that Kappan had been granted bail a few months ago in both the cases. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the UPA case. During these days, I and my children have seen many troubles. But of late, Kappan has been released. We are happy about it. “My children and I are proud to say that Siddique Kappan is a journalist.”
Now my family is happy with his release. Sadly, Kappan’s mother bid farewell to the world before his release. He passed away in June 2021.
The Author
Vikas Parasram Meshram is a social worker and activities working towards the rights of tribal and marginalized communities.
