Current:Home > StocksOliver James Montgomery-Indian authorities release Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah after 21 months in prison -WealthRoots Academy
Oliver James Montgomery-Indian authorities release Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah after 21 months in prison
Robert Brown View
Date:2025-04-06 21:57:30
SRINAGAR,Oliver James Montgomery India (AP) — Indian authorities have released a prominent Kashmir journalist on bail nearly two years after he was arrested on accusations of publishing “anti-national content” and “glorifying terrorism” in the disputed Himalayan region.
Fahad Shah, founder and editor of news portal The Kashmir Walla, was arrested in February 2022 under India’s sedition and anti-terror laws. He was released on Thursday after a court last week granted him bail, saying there was not enough evidence to try him for terrorism and quashed some of the charges.
The 21 months’ confinement of Shah, who is also a correspondent for U.S. newspaper Christian Science Monitor and other international outlets, highlighted the widening crackdown against journalists and freedom of expression in the contested region. The Indian government banned The Kashmir Walla earlier this year for undeclared reasons.
“What he and his colleagues at The Kashmir Walla actually did was to report widely and honestly about events in Kashmir, where journalists operate in an increasingly oppressive and hostile atmosphere,” Mark Sappenfield, editor of The Christian Science Monitor, wrote on Monday after Shah was granted bail.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, press freedoms in India have steadily shrunk since he was first elected in 2014.
At the time, the country was ranked 140th in the global press freedom index by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. This year, the watchdog has ranked India at 161 out of 180 nations — below the Philippines and Pakistan. The slide has nowhere been more glaring than in Kashmir.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world and the fighting has left tens of thousands of people dead.
Media has always been tightly controlled in India’s part. Arm twisting and fear have been extensively used to intimidate the press since 1989, when rebels began fighting Indian soldiers in a bid to establish an independent Kashmir or union with Pakistan. Pakistan controls Kashmir’s other part and the two countries fiercely claim the territory in full.
Kashmir’s diverse media flourished despite relentless pressure from Indian authorities and rebel groups. But their situation has gotten dramatically worse since India revoked the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019, throwing Kashmir under a severe security and communication lockdown and the media in a black hole. A year later, the government’s new media policy sought to control the press more effectively to crack down on independent reporting.
Since then, dozens of people have been arrested, interrogated and investigated under harsh anti-terror laws as authorities began filing criminal cases against some journalists in a campaign that has been widely seen as criminalization of journalists in Kashmir. Several of them have been forced to reveal their sources, while others have been physically assaulted.
Authorities have pressed newspapers by chastising editors and starving them of advertisement funds, their main source of income, to chill aggressive reporting.
Fearing reprisals, local media has largely wilted under the pressure and most newspapers appear to have cooperated and self-censored stories, afraid to be branded anti-national by a government that equates criticism with secessionism.
The court in its judgment said that although getting bail under India’s anti-terror law was difficult, it could not be denied to Shah because he did not pose a “clear and present danger” to society if released.
“It would mean that any criticism of the central government can be described as a terrorist act because the honor of India is its incorporeal property,” the court said in its bail order. “Such a proposition would collide headlong with the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19 of the constitution.”
Shah continues to face trial under other sections of the anti-terror law.
veryGood! (98)
Related
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Across America, how high mortgage rates keep buying a house out of reach
- Dakota Johnson reveals how Chris Martin helped her through 'low day' of depression
- Indiana announces hiring of James Madison’s Curt Cignetti as new head coach
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Pressure builds to eliminate fossil fuel use as oil executive, under fire, takes over climate talks
- Former ambassador and Republican politician sues to block Tennessee voting law
- Underwater video shows Navy spy plane's tires resting on coral after crashing into Hawaii bay
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- 3 die in Maine when car goes in wrong direction on turnpike, hitting 2 vehicles
Ranking
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Jonathan Majors' trial on domestic violence charges is underway. Here's what to know.
- Japan expresses concern about US Osprey aircraft continuing to fly without details of fatal crash
- Greek author Vassilis Vassilikos, whose political novel inspired award-winning film ‘Z,’ dies at 89
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Trump will hold a fundraiser instead of appearing at next week’s Republican presidential debate
- Elton John honored by Parliament for 'exceptional' contributions through AIDS Foundation
- Meta warns that China is stepping up its online social media influence operations
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Publishing industry heavy-hitters sue Iowa over state’s new school book-banning law
Former UK Treasury chief Alistair Darling, who steered nation through a credit crunch, has died
French soccer league struggling with violence, discriminatory chanting and low-scoring matches
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Shane MacGowan, irascible frontman of The Pogues, has died at age 65
University of Minnesota Duluth senior defensive lineman dies of genetic heart condition
Live updates | Temporary cease-fire expires; Israel-Hamas war resumes