New Delhi: Two journalists on Friday, September 25, claimed to have been detained and manhandled by the Delhi Police at Jantar Mantar while covering a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
While one reporter alleged his microphone was snatched and broken, the other said an officer demanded he delete photographs after dragging him away from the protest site.
The incident took place during the protest organised by activists and civil society groups, including the All India Students’ Association, following The Indian Express‘s investigation reports on the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
‘I had just gone to honestly report’
Mohammad Irfan, covering for The Wire and a prominent YouTuber, said in a video that it was his first time reporting on Friday. “Maybe they (Delhi Police) knew me because my face is quite well known as an activist,” Irfan said. Lekin aaj imaandari se me sirf report karne gaya tha (But today I had just gone to honestly report).”
He said, “The way you shoved me into the vehicle while I kept screaming — ‘My mic, my mic, my mic ‘ — well, you might as well lock up all those media outlets, whether it is The Wire or independent media that publishes news impartially and in the national interest.”
He took a jibe at the police in the national capital, saying they only allow “Godi media” to continue reporting because those outlets “sing praises, champion your agenda, and flatter you.”
“Aapko toh Godi media pasand hai jo aapki vavai kare aur agvaai kare aur aapki pasansa kare aur aapke jhoot ko sach kare din raat aapke kaale ko saphed kare un media ke vavai kare aur baaki sab pe taale laga dijiye, sabko jailon me daal dijiye, isse zyada toh hum kya kahenge (You only prefer Godi media outlets that sing your praises, champion your agenda, flatter you, turn your lies into truth, and whitewash your misdeeds day and night. Keep those outlets running and lock up all the others; throw everyone in jail. What more is there to say)?”
Irfan said he was trying to record activists Yogendra Yadav and Dipankar Bhattacharya of the Communist Party of India (ML) Liberation when Delhi Police personnel approached him to detain him. He told the media that four to five officers dragged him onto a police bus even though he had a press card. “
Following his detainment, The Wire, in a post on X, said, “While reporting for The Wire at Jantar Mantar, Irfan was taken into custody by the Delhi Police. The microphone bearing The Wire’s logo was snatched and thrown away.”
They asked the Delhi Police for clarification on the detention of protesters and their location.
‘Police official without name tag pushed me from the protest’
Senior reporter for Frontline magazine, Vedaant Lakhera, was also detained. He described the incident, saying a Delhi police personnel without a name tag “pushed” and “shoved” him away from the protest. “The policeman was wearing their name tag. I asked him to tell me his name and badge number, which they are supposed to tell whenever asked according to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. When this policeman refused to tell me his name, I tried to take his picture,” Lakhera said.
The journalist said he and some other people were forcibly removed from Jantar Mantar and dragged towards Parliament Street. “He went berserk after this and started forcefully removing us from the protest site. He and other personnel dragged me until Parliament Street, when they asked me to delete the picture I had taken. I denied, and then they clicked a picture of me,” Lakhera said.
“By then many independent journalists had surrounded me and Delhi Police had to let go of me.”
Press Club of India demands apology
Press Club of India on Saturday, September 26, expressed concern over the detention of the two journalists and urged Delhi Police to apologise to the reporters.
“The Press Club of India is shocked and deeply concerned that the Delhi Police decided to detain at least two journalists who were covering a protest at Jantar Mantar on September 25 regarding actions of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,” their statement read.
The association said both Lakhera and Irfan were wearing their press IDs while the police detained them. “Ironically, Lakhera was detained while asking Delhi Police personnel why they were not wearing name tags,” the press club said.
Irfan was detained for hours along with protesters before being released, and a policeman even snatched his mic, which bore the organisation’s logo, said the organisation. Meanwhile, Lakhera was dragged to the Parliament Street police station and told to delete a picture, which he did not do, before he was let go, they said.
Press Club of India also highlighted the experience of other journalists at the site, who reportedly said police behaved in “aggressive and high-handed ways.” Some reporters said they were injured in the scuffle that broke out as police detained peaceful protesters, the organisation said.
“That the Delhi Police, controlled directly by the Union Home Ministry, would behave in this manner against journalists at the centre of the national capital is a matter of grave concern. The democratic spirit of India demands that journalists be able to carry out their work in a safe environment, and that they be allowed to document those asking questions of the ruling regime,” the statement said.
The organisation urged the Delhi Police to apologise to the journalists “who were not able to work and whose equipment was lost because of this incident,” and to refrain from acting in this manner in the future.
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