Kashmiri Journalist Arrested For ‘ Criminal Conspiracy’, CPJ Seeks Immediate Release.

Sajad Gul, a Kashmiri journalist from Bandipora has been arrested by the police on charges on ‘criminal conspiracy’ after he posted a video on social media of family members and relatives of militant commander Saleem Parray, who was killed during a clash, in which they were chanting anti-national slogans.

Sajjad Gul is studying journalism at the Central University of Kashmir.

He has worked for a number of local media outlets and recently began working with a local media outlet called Kashmir Walla as a Trainee Reporter.

Sajad has been charged under 120B (party to criminal conspiracy), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), and 505B (fear or alarm to the public) sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The family said that the army detained Sajad at 10 pm on Wednesday and is currently lodged in the Sumbal police station.

A police official also confirmed that a case has been registered against Sajjad Gul and he is currently in police custody.

He had posted a video of the protest against the killing of Salim Parray, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander. Parray was killed on 3 January in a gunfight in Harwan, Srinagar. After the killing, minor protests and sloganeering happened in Hajin, in north Kashmir.

As per a family member who spoke with The Kashmir Walla, was detained in an Army raid on 5 January and was later handed over to the police. 

“He was detained by the Army on Wednesday at 10:00 pm and at around midnight we came to know that he is under police custody,” said Gul’s brother. “Today we were informed that the First Investigation Report [FIR] has been lodged against him [Sajad Gul],” he said.

CPJ Demands Release.

The committee to protect journalists (CPJ) has released a statement saying it is deeply disturbed by reports that Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul being arrested.

In a tweet, CPJ said, “ CPJ is deeply disturbed by reports that Kashmiri journalist @SajadGUL_ was arrested days after posting a video of a protest on social media. Authorities must immediately release Gul and drop their investigations related to his journalistic work.”

Meanwhile Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir condemning the arrest said that there is a different set of laws applicable to J&K vis a vis rest of India. Radicalized groups openly calling for genocide of Muslims are roaming free while Kashmiri journalists shining a light on state sponsored human rights violations are jailed. Laws too have been communalized.