India Archives - Page 18 of 61 - Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ, 73 media and rights groups urge Asian heads of state to release jailed journalists

April 27, 2020 1:51 PM EDT

Given that a staggering number of imprisoned journalists are held in jails across the Asian continent, CPJ and other groups call on leaders of these countries to release them at this time of grave public health concern.

Police are seen in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, on April 5, 2020. Tamil Nadu police recently arrested journalist Andrew Sam Raja Pandian. (AFP/Arun Sankar)

Police in India’s Tamil Nadu state arrest journalist over COVID-19 coverage

April 24, 2020 11:15 AM EDT

New Delhi, April 24, 2020 — Authorities in India’s Tamil Nadu state must immediately release journalist Andrew Sam Raja Pandian and drop their investigation into his outlet’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Akash Yadav, center, a Varanasi-based journalist with Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar spoke to CPJ India Correspondent Kunal Majumder about being a victim of both local police and a private hospital lobby. (Somi Das)

Mission Journal: Journalists in India’s Uttar Pradesh say threat of attack or prosecution looms large

April 23, 2020 12:30 PM EDT

Also available in हिंदी में On March 26, two days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown to control the spreading of COVID-19, Hindi-language daily Jansandesh Times reported that a tribe in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, didn’t have enough to eat due to the sudden announcement and that children were eating grass.…

AFP photographer Diptendu Dutta works during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19 in Siliguri, India, on April 10, 2020. Freelance journalists have faced risks to their lives and livelihoods amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)

Freelance journalists risk lives and livelihoods amid COVID-19 pandemic

April 23, 2020 11:15 AM EDT

Johannesburg-based freelance journalist Yeshiel Panchia was on his way to cover a story about a local developer who had found a way to keep his wage laborers employed during South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown by letting them live on the construction site so that they didn’t have to leave “home” in contravention of strict rules.

Police officers are seen Srinagar, Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir state, on March 31, 2020. Jammu and Kashmir police recently launched an investigation into journalist Gowhar Geelani. (AFP/Tauseef Mustafa)

Jammu and Kashmir police launch investigation into journalist Gowhar Geelani

April 22, 2020 2:00 PM EDT

New Delhi, April 22, 2020 — Authorities in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir should stop harassing journalists with police investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Kashimiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra. (Masrat Zahra)

Jammu and Kashmir police launch investigations into 2 journalists

April 20, 2020 1:30 PM EDT

New Delhi, April 20, 2020 — Authorities in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir must immediately stop harassing journalists Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq, and let them report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Indian journalist Gautam Navlakha is seen in Srinagar on December 6, 2012. The Indian Supreme Court recently ordered Navlakha to turn himself in to a prison, which he said he fears due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP/Tauseef Mustafa)

Journalist Gautam Navlakha tells CPJ he fears imprisonment amid COVID-19 pandemic

April 9, 2020 4:55 PM EDT

New Delhi, April 9, 2020 — Indian authorities should stop pursuing the arrest of journalist Gautam Navlakha, and should cease holding journalists in jail during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

A police officer walks inside a shelter set up for migrants in Mumbai, India, April 6, 2020. The Indian Supreme Court recently passed a directive in response to alleged fake news that prompted migration in the country. (Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas)

Lawyer Apar Gupta on what the Indian Supreme Court’s order on COVID-19 coverage means for journalists

April 9, 2020 3:50 PM EDT

On March 31, the Indian Supreme Court passed a directive making it compulsory for news outlets to carry the government’s official version on any news related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers wearing protective suits disinfect a passenger train on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, on April 6, 2020. Indian freelance journalist Vidya Krishnan recently spoke with CPJ about the challenges of covering the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri)

Indian journalist Vidya Krishnan on navigating harassment and government obstruction while covering COVID-19

April 8, 2020 2:15 PM EDT

Vidya Krishnan, a freelance reporter who has covered healthcare in India for 17 years, says she has never seen the kind of harassment and threats that health reporters have received while covering COVID-19.

Journalist Raihana Maqbool reporting in Kashmir. (Aliya Bashir)

Kashmiri journalist Raihana Maqbool on reporting on COVID-19 amid ongoing restrictions

April 6, 2020 9:24 AM EDT

Journalists in Jammu and Kashmir have spent the past eight months navigating an intense crackdown by Indian authorities in the region, including unprecedented restrictions on communications and the longest internet shutdown in a democracy. Now, they have the added challenge on trying to report on the COVID-19 pandemic. India has instituted a strict 21-day national…