Siddique Kappan incites Muslims, Hathras visit to foment caste riots, says UP Police.

New Delhi: Wrangling his words out of context, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has purported yet again that journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested a year ago on charges of sedition, wrote reports "only to incite Muslims and sympathise with Maoists and Communists".

The 5,000-page chargesheet filed against Kappan carries portions from 36 of his articles - on the Nizamuddin Markas gathering after the Covid outbreak, anti-CAA protests, Northeast Delhi riots, the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the chargesheet against Sharjeel Imam, who was jailed on sedition charges.

The STF use this to label Kappan's writings as "communal" and "inciting sentiments". Responsible journalists do not do such communal reporting, the chargesheet reads.

They also allege that Kappan's efforts were part of an agenda by the Popular Front of India (PFI), an extremist Islamic organisation in India often accused of anti-national and anti-social activities by the Indian Government.

The STF claim that Kappan worked as a "think tank" of the PFI.

Kappan and three others - Atikumar Rahman, Aaalam and Masood - were arrested on their way to Hathras to cover the murder of a Dalit girl.

A 19-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped and murdered by four upper-caste Thakur men on September 14, 2020. The woman succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Delhi on September 29.

The incident garnered national attention after the woman was cremated in the dead of night near her home on September 30, without the presence of her family members.

The police claimed that Kappan and the others were going to Hathras as part of a conspiracy to create law and order trouble and foment caste riots.

The four were charged under the sedition law and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Kappan has been in prison since October 2020.

Last week, an order was issued by a Lucknow court to transfer Rahman to AIIMS in Delhi following a deterioration in his health.

The case against the four is being heard in a Mathura court, and charges are yet to be framed.

KUWJ expresses shock 

Kochi: The Kerala union of working journalists (KUWJ) on Friday expressed shock over the Uttar Pradesh police charge sheet against journalist Siddique Kappan, in which the reports and interviews done by the Delhi-based scribe have also been allegedly included.

KUWJ said the action of the UP police was nothing but treating "journalism as a crime".

"This goes against the very spirit of freedom of expression guaranteed under the constitution. We appeal to the Honorable Supreme Court of India to intervene in the matter and quash the shameful act of the UP police," the KUWJ said in a statement.

The journalists body said the police in UP was acting against the freedom of expression and fundamental rights of the individual citizen. 

"The KUWJ is also anguished to learn that the copy of the charge sheet has not been given to Siddique Kappan even though we are on the brink of completing one year of his arrest and subsequent incarceration in the jail," the statement read.

KUWJ also pointed out that Kappan has volunteered to undergo narco analysis and other tests as part of his struggle to prove his innocence in the cases slapped against him. 

"The KUWJ as an organization of professional journalists committed to protect the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression would reiterate its support for Mr Kappan and his struggle against the false charges made by the UP police," it said.