‘Reporters Without Borders’ condemns police assault on Kashmiri journalist in IIOJK

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), condemning the assault on Kashmiri journalist, Auqib Javaid by Indian police in Srinagar last week, has termed the behavior of cyber police typical of authoritarian regimes.The Paris-based media watchdog in a statement issued in Paris denounced the threats and violence, including being slapped in the face, to which Kashmiri journalist, Auqib Javaid was subjected during a five-hour interrogation by cyber-police in Srinagar after writing about their intimidation of Twitter users. “Such behaviour is unacceptable in a democracy,” the RSF added.

Auqib, an accredited Kashmiri journalist, was verbally summoned by the Cyber Police station on September 18 over his story titled, ‘The Real Cyberbully: Police in Kashmir Question Twitter Users’ which appeared in ‘Article 14”, a Bangalore based web portal.

According to Auqib, he was slapped twice by a masked cop outside the room of Superintendent of Police of the Cyber Wing, Tahir Ashraf Bhatii when he was on way to meet the officer on Saturday. The SP, he said had also hurled choicest abuses at him.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that members of the police manhandled, threatened and intimidated a journalist who just did his job,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“The behaviour of the Srinagar cyber-police is typical of authoritarian regimes and unworthy of Indian democracy. We call on the federal authorities to punish those responsible for the violence against Auqib Javaid,” he added.

Quoting Auqib, the RSF statement said that he was still in a state of shock when he spoke to RSF on 21st September and, earlier that day, he had written about his brutal treatment by the police two days before.

“I fear for my life now,” Javaid told RSF. “I believe that the authorities could go to any lengths to silence me and could arrest me on a fabricated charge.”

The RSF said that it was not the first time Auqib has been subjected to intimidation in connection with his work. It said that the Indian National Investigation Agency interrogated him for three hours in July 2018 for interviewing a Kashmiri pro-freedom leader. “His phone was also taken and never returned,” the RSF said.