Forward Press: Protest intensified against Police action

Sat, Oct 11, 2014 at 6:44 PM

The writers forum condemned the police suppression on Forward Press

Many Organisations expressed anger against supression

Activists of forum for freedom of expression in a protest March

The writers’s forum and other organisations came in support of the ‘ Bahujan- Shraman’ issue of Forward Press and condemned the police action against it. Janwadi Lekhak Sangh issued a press release today (written below) while forum for  freedom of expression marked a protest March in Bhagalpur Bihar. The Convenor of forum, Om Sudha  asked the Home Ministry to immediate withdraw the FIR , lodged against ‘ Forward Press.’

​ The writers from Patna met to condemn the police action , as well and marked the attempt of police against the Indian Constitution , which has a provision of freedom of expression ​

Meanwhile a group of right wing students sent one another application to the ‘ Vasant Kunj Police Station,’ for taking action against the  artist of the illustration, which was made on its own interpretation of ‘ Durga Myth. The applicants ask the police to take action against a writer of the ‘Forward Press’, too. intensified 
Contact 

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: 9155326597, Om Sudha 

                                                                 PRESS RELEASE

The raid by Special Branch of the Delhi police at the Nehru Place office of monthly FORWARD Press on October 9, in which four of its staffers were arrested and the confiscation of the copies of the latest issue of the magazine from bookstalls on October 10 are matters of deep concern and deserve outright condemnation. The police took these actions without order of any court or competent authority. It is said that the action was taken on the basis of a complaint registered at the Vasant Kunj police station.

The latest issue of the magazine is focussed on Bahujan-Shraman tradition. The issue carries articles that interpret the Puranic story of the killing of Mahishasur by Durga as a struggle between the Aryans and the non-Aryans. This may have angered the Hindutvadis, who have been routinely indulging in vandalism in the name of hurting religious sentiments. On the evening of October 9, activists of RSS' students' wing ABVP tried to block the organising of 'Mahishasur Martyrdom Day' function at JNU. The Delhi police action and the ABVP vandalism are closely interlinked and manifest the growing assertiveness of the reactionary, communal-fascist forces since the Modi government coming to power and the aid being extended to them by the government machinery.

The Janwadi Lekhak Sangh strongly condemns the action against the magazine without any proper court order and views it as a violation of the fundamental right of freedom of expression. We also condemn the violence indulged in by the ABVP activists during the observance of 'Mahishasur Martyrdom Day' at JNU. Action should, in fact, be taken against those who do not believe in expression of dissent while sticking to democratic norms. VHP leader Praveen Togadia's recent statement that history books written by Romila Thapar and Bipin Chandra should be burnt is an example of such tendencies.

Janwadi Lekhak Sangh appeals to all democratic and secular forces to unite against such tendencies. We demand that action should be taken against police officials who ordered and conducted the illegal raid on FORWARD Press. We also demand action against the RSS activists who indulged in violence and unruly behaviour at JNU   

        Murli Manohar Prasad Singh                                                  Sanjiv Kumar

            (General Secretary)                                                     (Deputy General Secretary)                                               

 New Delhi

Oct 11, 2014

Indian Investigative Reporter K.K. Shahina

IFJ Deeply Concerned over Criminal Charges against Indian Investigative Reporter
Media Release: India                                                                     January 15, 2013                 
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is extremely concerned to learn of the criminal charges filed against investigative reporter K.K. Shahina by police in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Shahina, who currently works with the weekly magazine Open,  faces charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy and intimidation of witnesses with intent to commit a crime. The chargesheet filed in the sessions court in the district of Kodagu in Karnataka state, also indicts her under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is most commonly invoked to deal with terrorist offences.
These charges stem from a story  published under Shahina’s byline in the weekly magazine Tehelka in December 2010, which appeared to cast doubt on the prosecution of a prominent Islamic cleric and political figure on terrorism charges.
Shahina who then worked as correspondent for Tehelka in the state of Kerala, based her story on interviews with key witnesses in the case against Abdul Nasar Mahdani, an Islamic cleric who heads the Peoples’ Democratic Party, active mainly in the state of Kerala. Mahdani has since been arrested and charged by Karnataka police for conspiracy to detonate a series of low-intensity bomb blasts in the state capital city of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) in July 2008.
Shahina’s story cited several of the witnesses named by the Karnataka police as saying that their testimony has been misinterpreted or distorted in making out the charges against Mahdani.
In March 2011, Shahina was honoured with the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding woman media person. The awards citation mentioned her investigative work in defence of civil liberties, among other contributions.
Facing the possibility of arrest since January 2011, Shahina approached the district court in Kodagu for anticipatory bail, but was turned down. It was only in July 2011 that the Karnataka High Court granted her provisional immunity from arrest. With charges now formally registered in the sessions court, she will be required to appeal for renewal of her bail and also travel from her base of Kochi city in Kerala, to Madikeri in Kodagu district for every hearing.
The IFJ calls on the authorities in Karnataka state to reconsider their intent to prosecute Shahina, whose work has been an example of investigative journalism in the cause of civil liberties.
“We see this prosecution as an instance of seeking to silence fair and independent reporting through legal injunction. We fear that the process of the law, with the demands it makes on the time and energy of the defendant, is often punishment in itself and will severely impair this journalist’s professional effectiveness.”
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

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Indian Investigative Reporter K.K. Shahina