Scores of independent journalists, reporters from digital newsrooms, and freelance journalists gathered at Press Club of India on 13 October to condemn the violent harrassment and detentions of journalists by the Delhi Police during the protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on 10 and 11 October.
In the public meeting called by Press Club President Sangeeta Barooh Pisharty, journalist detained or allegedly brutalised by police personnel shared their experiences on the ground.
"How can the state or the police decide who is a journalist?" Pisharty, President of Press Club of India said. "They are asking for PIB Cards. PIB cards are for security clearence to get into various ministries. You don't need it on streets."
“Our Prime Minister says this is the mother of all democracies. Then all the more reason not to do this. Are you attacking the mother herself? You cannot do this.”
"This is not something new for Indian journalists regardless of which regime you've been reporting under. What we've witnessed particularly in this cycle of protests marks a very concerning escalation" said veteran journalist Sreenivasan Jain, "one can only assume that this overreaction is because the regime is wounded, the regime is threatened. And that's why the attempt to escalate its already very significant attempt to suppress and repress the press."
Jain said the police action appeared particularly directed at younger journalists and those perceived to be independent or critical of the government.
"Obviously, some sort of instructions have gone out to particularly go hard against that section, and be less tough with more established legacy media, and of course, the media which is seen as uh, favorable to the government."
"We have the Kashmir playbook before us." said founding editor of The Wire Siddharth Varadarajan. "As early as 2016 the police was trying to tell Kashmiri photojournalists that you are not an actual journalist because when we looked at your hard disks and your computer, we didn't find any photographs of the government's flower shows and blood donation drives. We only saw pictures of people protesting. This means you're not a journalist."
"We cannot allow the government to dictate who is a journalist and who's not. We cannot accept a situation where a government committee or a government body is going to sit in judgment and decide who is a journalist and who is not."
Journalista Who Were Attacked Speak Up
Scroll Journalist Ayush Tiwari was detained on 10 October while he was documenting the detentions outside the BJP office.
"When police started detaining people, there were several journalists who were also taken. I saw an India Today journalist showing their press ID from inside the detention bus. Even before they could do anything, the bus left the place."
"I was standing between the police and the protesters. After some time, a police officer said 'isko bhi uthalo.' I was wearing a press card, and had it prominently displayed, and I also showed it to the police. They put me in the bus, and were violent. I have scratches on my body and my shirt buttons were ripped off."
Four Newslaundry journalists was also detained on 10 October near New Delhi Railway Station.
"A police bus had blocked the road. I was speaking to the people who were detained, when a police officer grabbed my mic and pushed it down. I said 'Sir, you can't touch my mic' and he said 'isko uthao.' ", said Anmol Pritam from Newslaundry.
"They tried to snatch my phone. I told them that they can't do this, I am doing my work and I'm from the press. Both me and my producer were wearing our ID cards and I had a mic in my hand. They threw me into the bus, and snatched the phone on which I was recording. Two other journalists who were filming my detention were also detained."
Astha Savyasachi from Newslaundry said "After I was shoved to the bus, I fell to the floor. I showed them my press card and said ' we are journalists, we are from Newslaundry' a police officer said 'do logon ka Newslaundry hai, Newslaundry kya hai?' I told him that four reporters from Newslaundry are detained right in this bus."
"I was inappropriately touched by a man who was standing behind me in the bus. When I twisted his hand and shouted, he ran off from the bus." added Savyasachi. "When women journalists or protesters are detained in your bus, how do you ensure their safety? Who will be answerable for that?"
'Hum Dono Equal Nahin Hain' Caravan's Ryan Thomas Detained, Beaten
Journalist from The Caravan Ryan Thomas was detained on 11 October at 6 pm and beaten while documenting a protester being detained at Connaught Place, when a police officer turned to him and asked him what he was doing.
"I said 'I'm keeping a distance. I'm from the press.' They surrounded me from all sides and four to five police officers came from behind, and they put me inside a bus, and tried to snatch my phone." said Thomas
"One of the police officers said 'Main bohot thak gaya hun, mujhe apne biwi-bacchon ke paas jaana hai, ghar jaana hai.' I said 'mere ghar pe bhi log hain, mujhe bhi ghar pe jaana hai.' The officer said 'tu mere barabar nahin hai, tu mujhse barabari mat kar. Hum dono equal nahin hain.' "
Thomas said they tried to snatch and break his camera, and kept insisting he delete his footage. When he refused, they beat him.
"They said 'tumhare camera se tumko bohot deshbhakti aa jaati hai' "
Thimas was later put in another vehicle, where he beaten and threatened with a gun. "They didn't even ask me any questions, they were just punching me. They threw me inside, they punched my head. They attacked my shoulder and my neck. When I refused to delete the footage, they said 'rifle nikalo, iske liye toh gun hi kam karega.' "
"They asked for my name. As soon as I told them my name, they slapped me. When I said 'Sir I am cooperating with you, please don't attack me' they slapped me again.' They then took me somewhere else, where they were putting the other detainees into a bus. They pointed at the bus and said 'tere bhi yahi haal hoga. Abhi footage delete kar warna tereko bhi wahin le jayenge' "
'Yeh Quint Kya Hai?'
The Quint jouranlists Eshwar and Sarthak also spoke about their accounts.
Sarthak was detained along with another journalist from QueerBeat on 10 October by the Delhi Police and held at Chanakyapuri Metro Station for five hours while on his way to cover the protests. He had not reached the barricades and was wearing his press ID card.
"The lady officer who was checking our IDs said 'I might have heard of the Quint, but you still have to go for the verification.' When asked what the verification is, she said 'the police have a database to know if you are a legitimate journalist.' " said Sarthak
"At every point I was asking 'Am I detained?' and they just kept reiterating that this is just verification. When asked what this verification is, they asked for my parents names, my address. None of this would help them recognise if I am from a recognised journalistic outlet or not. All of this is to profile." said Sarthak
"It was only when a bunch of lawyers and some other fellow journalists came and put pressure on the police did they allow us to go." said Sarthak
"They are restricting access to particular kind of people who they deem as not journalists. There are instances where we have heard the police say that 'these new journalists have gaon dehat ki mentality.' They are panicked by the fact that news as an industry is being decentralised. There are more and more journalists who are covering who are covering more and more things and as more information comes out, you'll see the panic that the State has. This is concerning as any citizen and journalist that the State has decided who gets to document and who gets to stay out."
Senior video journalist cameraperson Shiv Kumar was also heckled by the police who said 'isko uthao.'
"At 8:30 am, we called a colleague from the other side of the barricade who was stationed at the hotel to help us out. We merely exchanged footage for two minutes, the police on the other side of the barricade started heckling him. 'Aapne kya share kiya hai? aap kaun hain?' I was telling them, 'he's a guest at the hotel, he's a friend' but they did not listen", Eshwar said.
Because of the internet shutdown, The Quint journalists left Central Delhi to be able to send visuals to our office. Around 3 pm, when returning, they were stopped by the police, and were told "These are not PIB cards. We don't know who you are."
"We played him an interview of Dinesh Gupta, Additional CP of Traffic, who had told us in the morning that you do not need PIB accredidation to be on the ground today. He was not ready to listen. We were offboarded from the auto," said Eshwar
At the end the meeting, all participating journalists carried out a silent march on Raisina Road around the for about 15 minutes.