Delhi Union of Journalists(DUJ) and Kerala Union of Working Journalist(KUWJ) Delhi Unit, in a joint statement today, have expressed serious concern, both at the curbs on Kashmiri Journalist Aakash Hassan, who was ‘barred’ from flying to Srilanka for coverage and the arrest warrant against journalist Ravi Nair in an Adani defamation suit. “These attacks constitute a continuum of attacks and threats to independent journalists and journalism in India today”, the statement by DUJ President S.K.Pande and KUWJ Delhi Unit secretary Dhanasumod said.
It may be recalled that Aakash Hassan was stopped from flying to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo by immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi International(IGI) Airport on Tuesday in what is perceived as part of a larger clampdown on journalists in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the case of journalist Ravi Nair, it is quite well known that he had filed several investigative stories in the last few years some of which have been critical of BJP’s economic policies and the controversial Rafale deal. Furthermore he had also written on electoral bonds, CAG and other exposures.
In the case of Hassan, he contributes for The Guardian and he covered human rights in Kashmir and other parts. In fact, he was recently nominated to the final list of One World Media Awards 2022 in the “New Voice’ category. It is learned that on Monday 25 July, Independent journalist Ravi Nair was served with a bailable warrant for appearance in a court in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, by the Delhi polioce. Reportedly he had not even received any court summons or even the complaint lodged against him.
