7 ms·

Indian journalist arrested after he questions a minister over election promises

slater 4y ago
A ruckus!
- throwaway384629 4y ago
  Yup, anyone asking questions to government is "causing ruckus" according to them. :(
- 0xDEF 4y ago
  Without the accent and grammar mistakes a lot of Indian English feels like something an arrogant 19th century British aristocrat would say. I wonder if that is also the case in countries that were occupied by other European powers.
  - mc32 4y ago
    Quebec uses some quaint French here and there. Many diasporas ossify some of their original languages, but not always. I do prefer their numbers to actual bonafide French from France numbers. Numbers like Seventy and eighty, for example.
    - SonicScrub 4y ago
      What, you don't enjoy saying four twenties ten and seven?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - RajT88 4y ago
    Probably true. I became aware at some point that "Please do the needful" is actually proper British and American English which died out 100 years ago.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > the accent and grammar mistakes Liston to Winston Churchill circa 1909 [1]. The modern Indian accent is a ringer for upper-class colonial English. [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L1i0jhPledU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L1i0jhPledU
throwaway384629 4y ago
Here is the original video where he is asking questions to the minister (He is speaking Hindi): https://twitter.com/RahulMukherji5/status/1635536393526190080 https://twitter.com/RahulMukherji5/status/163553639352619008... Here is the video after he got arrested his hands tied with a chain/handcuffs: https://mobile.twitter.com/yadavakhilesh/status/1635643703158099968 https://mobile.twitter.com/yadavakhilesh/status/163564370315...
alephnerd 4y ago
Welcome to low level politics in India. Piss off an MLA or Panchayat Member, let alone an MP, and being arrested would be the least of your worries. At least this guy wasn't burned alive like the journalist who reported on an MLA in the neighboring district committing corruption and rape in 2015 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jagendra_Singh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jagendra_Singh Jai Jai Uttar Pradesh I guess
- notch898a 4y ago
  I mean if you're just going to lawlessly arrest people, why wouldn't the police just like arrest the upper class and take their shit? Why bother with some measly journalist.
  - alephnerd 4y ago
    The Upper Class have networks as well. Journalists, Police, Civil Servants - they're all "chamchas"
  - random314 4y ago
    The police take their orders from the local upper caste leaders.
    - alephnerd 4y ago
      Lower caste too. Look at the Yadavs and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh or the Kurmis and RJD in Bihar
- newhotelowner 4y ago
  Siddique Kappan: Indian journalist released from jail after two years [1]. He was arrested in October 2020 in Uttar Pradesh state, where a young Dalit woman had died after she was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426
openthc 4y ago
A little different in USA...question some authority and next thing you know that authority is paying extra special attention to you and your clients (cause we're all overseen by the same agency). At least with FOIA we can get some of the details. And no arrests; just fines and hassle.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-villages-oren-miller/ https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-vil... A governor popular enough to be considered for presidential run put a local official in jail for getting in the way of a developer family that had enough pull with the governor. > On January 30, 2023, a gaunt, 72-year-old Oren Miller — by then a former commissioner, ousted from his seat by a DeSantis decree — was brought handcuffed into the Marion County Courthouse. He had lost 20-plus pounds in the 75 days he spent jailed awaiting sentencing on a felony charge for, essentially, nothing. Or, perhaps more accurately, for fighting back against a powerful, well-heeled ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
  - calgarymicro 4y ago
    This situation is horrific and should have never happened, but to be clear the prosecution was for violating sunshine laws. So the conviction was not for speech, but rather for failing to conduct that speech in public. Edit: it was actually for perjury during the sunshine investigation.
    - ok_dad 4y ago
      The prosecution isn't the issue, it's that they put a 75 year old man, who was not a threat to his community and who likely wouldn't flee prosecution due to his age and his connections locally, into jail/prison for 75 days. That's where the "political prisoner" part comes from. They can prosecute all they want for what may or may not have been a violation, but the overzealousness shown is obviously retribution against this guy.
    - canuckintime 4y ago
random314 4y ago
This is fairly standard for India, especially UP which is the least developed state in India (along with Bihar). If you want to see something really egregious, check this out. A lower caste woman was raped and murdered by upper caste men. The really egregious part - the woman actually ended up dying one week later and her dying declaration identifying her 4 rapists and murderers was ruled inadmissible. After a nation wide outrage the rapists were arrested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Hathras_gang_rape_and_murder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Hathras_gang_rape_and_mur... Once the news cycle calmed down, the following happened 1. The lower caste family of the victim could no longer find any work and feared stepping out of the house. 2. 3 of the rapists were set free based on a dubious report filed by the police which was hand in glove with the local upper caste leaders. The single convict was absolved of the murder charge because the woman did not die soon enough. https://www.thequint.com/news/india/hathras-rape-murder-victim-brother-on-acquittal-verdict https://www.thequint.com/news/india/hathras-rape-murder-vict... 3. A bunch of Muslim journalists were jailed for multiple years on sedition charges for trying to report on the incident, as per their job duties. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/malayalam-journalist-3-others-arrested-near-hathras-booked-under-sedition-law/article32791003.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/malayala... https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/explained-who-is-siddique-kappan-journalist-arrested-on-his-way-to-cover-2020-hathras-gang-rape-and-murder-case-11217641.html https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/explained-who-is-siddiq... https://maktoobmedia.com/india/muslim-cab-driver-uapa-prisoner-in-hathras-case-to-walk-out-of-jail-after-757-days/ https://maktoobmedia.com/india/muslim-cab-driver-uapa-prison... ALternate link: https://archive.is/bXtdg https://archive.is/bXtdg Another puke worthy case where BJP leaders took out processions in support of the rapists and murderers of an 8 year old girl. The reason for the support? the 8 year old victim was Muslim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Unnao_rape_case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Unnao_rape_case
- throwaway384629 4y ago
  Not only that, police forcibly took the victim's body from family and cremated it at midnight. [1] [2] Siddique Kappan, a journalist who went there to report on the story was arrested and spend 2 years in jail. [3] Wait if you think this is enough. The girl did gave a statement on video before death. Still it was not enough for rapists to get punished by court. [4] [1] https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/hathras-up-govt-allahabad-high-court-district-magistrate-cremation-victim-166712#.X8egCPNuLrM.twitter https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/hathras-up-govt-allahaba... [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54351744 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54351744 [3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 [4] https://twitter.com/ambedkariteIND/status/1631279771605950464 https://twitter.com/ambedkariteIND/status/163127977160595046...
Karupan 4y ago
Over zealous members and supporters of political parties have always done this in India. The difference I see is that they have become much more brazen in the past few years and don’t care about negative publicity. This along with draconian laws make it easy to accuse anyone (including journalists) of “causing a ruckus”, “hurting religious sentiments” and other vague and made up charges. We are heading down a very dangerous road to totalitarian governments at both central and state levels.
- throwaway384629 4y ago
  Agree. I am also afraid of the same. That is the reason I have started sharing here on HN. Just my little effort to save democracy.
- malshe 4y ago
  It has actually become less brazen because now people have phones and record everything. It's just that you have social media and you get to see it more now compared to the past.
rajup 4y ago
[flagged]
- alephnerd 4y ago
  I agree with you! And imo, it's because it's morning now in India. I usually start seeing Indian politics comments around now on HN
- throwaway384629 4y ago
  I believe democracy and peace are important for everyone. Just wondering why you don't like the sharing of this news?
  - rajup 4y ago
    That’s cool and all but there are a hundred different forums to share and raise awareness of this. I don’t see what is remotely “hacker” related here. Like I said the comments are predictably filled with low quality flamebait/ideologically loaded comments adding nothing interesting to the conversation. Reddit exists for this purpose.
    - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
      > there are a hundred different forums to share and raise awareness of this India is a start-up environment and international investment destination. Same as Israel, its rule of law is deteriorating. That is relevant to those of us with investments and who invest there.
      - rajup 4y ago
        You're grasping at straws, but if it makes you feel good, whatever. Like I pointed out multiple times, there was absolutely 0 useful commentary on this post and is useless for HN discourse.
        throwaway384629 4y ago
known 4y ago
[dead]
amriksohata 4y ago
Pretty standard in Bengal, if you speak against Mamata Banarjee you will get attacked
- throwaway384629 4y ago
  So are you supporting this types of illegal activities because as per you Mamata Banarjee also does the same? Will you also support a crime because other criminals also do it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_don%27t_make_a_right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_don%27t_make_a_righ...
  - amriksohata 4y ago
    No I dont agree or support this, I'm just saying all political parties in Asia do this. In Pakistan and India and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, oppositions and governments.

A ruckus!

throwaway384629 4y ago
Yup, anyone asking questions to government is "causing ruckus" according to them. :(
0xDEF 4y ago
Without the accent and grammar mistakes a lot of Indian English feels like something an arrogant 19th century British aristocrat would say. I wonder if that is also the case in countries that were occupied by other European powers.
- mc32 4y ago
  Quebec uses some quaint French here and there. Many diasporas ossify some of their original languages, but not always. I do prefer their numbers to actual bonafide French from France numbers. Numbers like Seventy and eighty, for example.
  - SonicScrub 4y ago
    What, you don't enjoy saying four twenties ten and seven?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- RajT88 4y ago
  Probably true. I became aware at some point that "Please do the needful" is actually proper British and American English which died out 100 years ago.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > the accent and grammar mistakes Liston to Winston Churchill circa 1909 [1]. The modern Indian accent is a ringer for upper-class colonial English. [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L1i0jhPledU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L1i0jhPledU

Here is the original video where he is asking questions to the minister (He is speaking Hindi): https://twitter.com/RahulMukherji5/status/1635536393526190080 https://twitter.com/RahulMukherji5/status/163553639352619008... Here is the video after he got arrested his hands tied with a chain/handcuffs: https://mobile.twitter.com/yadavakhilesh/status/1635643703158099968 https://mobile.twitter.com/yadavakhilesh/status/163564370315...

alephnerd 4y ago

Welcome to low level politics in India. Piss off an MLA or Panchayat Member, let alone an MP, and being arrested would be the least of your worries. At least this guy wasn't burned alive like the journalist who reported on an MLA in the neighboring district committing corruption and rape in 2015 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jagendra_Singh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jagendra_Singh Jai Jai Uttar Pradesh I guess

notch898a 4y ago
I mean if you're just going to lawlessly arrest people, why wouldn't the police just like arrest the upper class and take their shit? Why bother with some measly journalist.
- alephnerd 4y ago
  The Upper Class have networks as well. Journalists, Police, Civil Servants - they're all "chamchas"
- random314 4y ago
  The police take their orders from the local upper caste leaders.
  - alephnerd 4y ago
    Lower caste too. Look at the Yadavs and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh or the Kurmis and RJD in Bihar
newhotelowner 4y ago
Siddique Kappan: Indian journalist released from jail after two years [1]. He was arrested in October 2020 in Uttar Pradesh state, where a young Dalit woman had died after she was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426

openthc 4y ago

A little different in USA...question some authority and next thing you know that authority is paying extra special attention to you and your clients (cause we're all overseen by the same agency). At least with FOIA we can get some of the details. And no arrests; just fines and hassle.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-villages-oren-miller/ https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-vil... A governor popular enough to be considered for presidential run put a local official in jail for getting in the way of a developer family that had enough pull with the governor. > On January 30, 2023, a gaunt, 72-year-old Oren Miller — by then a former commissioner, ousted from his seat by a DeSantis decree — was brought handcuffed into the Marion County Courthouse. He had lost 20-plus pounds in the 75 days he spent jailed awaiting sentencing on a felony charge for, essentially, nothing. Or, perhaps more accurately, for fighting back against a powerful, well-heeled ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
- calgarymicro 4y ago
  This situation is horrific and should have never happened, but to be clear the prosecution was for violating sunshine laws. So the conviction was not for speech, but rather for failing to conduct that speech in public. Edit: it was actually for perjury during the sunshine investigation.
  - ok_dad 4y ago
    The prosecution isn't the issue, it's that they put a 75 year old man, who was not a threat to his community and who likely wouldn't flee prosecution due to his age and his connections locally, into jail/prison for 75 days. That's where the "political prisoner" part comes from. They can prosecute all they want for what may or may not have been a violation, but the overzealousness shown is obviously retribution against this guy.
  - canuckintime 4y ago

random314 4y ago

This is fairly standard for India, especially UP which is the least developed state in India (along with Bihar). If you want to see something really egregious, check this out. A lower caste woman was raped and murdered by upper caste men. The really egregious part - the woman actually ended up dying one week later and her dying declaration identifying her 4 rapists and murderers was ruled inadmissible. After a nation wide outrage the rapists were arrested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Hathras_gang_rape_and_murder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Hathras_gang_rape_and_mur... Once the news cycle calmed down, the following happened 1. The lower caste family of the victim could no longer find any work and feared stepping out of the house. 2. 3 of the rapists were set free based on a dubious report filed by the police which was hand in glove with the local upper caste leaders. The single convict was absolved of the murder charge because the woman did not die soon enough. https://www.thequint.com/news/india/hathras-rape-murder-victim-brother-on-acquittal-verdict https://www.thequint.com/news/india/hathras-rape-murder-vict... 3. A bunch of Muslim journalists were jailed for multiple years on sedition charges for trying to report on the incident, as per their job duties. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/malayalam-journalist-3-others-arrested-near-hathras-booked-under-sedition-law/article32791003.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/malayala... https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/explained-who-is-siddique-kappan-journalist-arrested-on-his-way-to-cover-2020-hathras-gang-rape-and-murder-case-11217641.html https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/explained-who-is-siddiq... https://maktoobmedia.com/india/muslim-cab-driver-uapa-prisoner-in-hathras-case-to-walk-out-of-jail-after-757-days/ https://maktoobmedia.com/india/muslim-cab-driver-uapa-prison... ALternate link: https://archive.is/bXtdg https://archive.is/bXtdg Another puke worthy case where BJP leaders took out processions in support of the rapists and murderers of an 8 year old girl. The reason for the support? the 8 year old victim was Muslim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Unnao_rape_case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Unnao_rape_case

throwaway384629 4y ago
Not only that, police forcibly took the victim's body from family and cremated it at midnight. [1] [2] Siddique Kappan, a journalist who went there to report on the story was arrested and spend 2 years in jail. [3] Wait if you think this is enough. The girl did gave a statement on video before death. Still it was not enough for rapists to get punished by court. [4] [1] https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/hathras-up-govt-allahabad-high-court-district-magistrate-cremation-victim-166712#.X8egCPNuLrM.twitter https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/hathras-up-govt-allahaba... [2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54351744 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54351744 [3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64494426 [4] https://twitter.com/ambedkariteIND/status/1631279771605950464 https://twitter.com/ambedkariteIND/status/163127977160595046...

Karupan 4y ago

Over zealous members and supporters of political parties have always done this in India. The difference I see is that they have become much more brazen in the past few years and don’t care about negative publicity. This along with draconian laws make it easy to accuse anyone (including journalists) of “causing a ruckus”, “hurting religious sentiments” and other vague and made up charges. We are heading down a very dangerous road to totalitarian governments at both central and state levels.

throwaway384629 4y ago
Agree. I am also afraid of the same. That is the reason I have started sharing here on HN. Just my little effort to save democracy.
malshe 4y ago
It has actually become less brazen because now people have phones and record everything. It's just that you have social media and you get to see it more now compared to the past.

rajup 4y ago

[flagged]

alephnerd 4y ago
I agree with you! And imo, it's because it's morning now in India. I usually start seeing Indian politics comments around now on HN
throwaway384629 4y ago
I believe democracy and peace are important for everyone. Just wondering why you don't like the sharing of this news?
- rajup 4y ago
  That’s cool and all but there are a hundred different forums to share and raise awareness of this. I don’t see what is remotely “hacker” related here. Like I said the comments are predictably filled with low quality flamebait/ideologically loaded comments adding nothing interesting to the conversation. Reddit exists for this purpose.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > there are a hundred different forums to share and raise awareness of this India is a start-up environment and international investment destination. Same as Israel, its rule of law is deteriorating. That is relevant to those of us with investments and who invest there.
    - rajup 4y ago
      You're grasping at straws, but if it makes you feel good, whatever. Like I pointed out multiple times, there was absolutely 0 useful commentary on this post and is useless for HN discourse.
      - throwaway384629 4y ago

known 4y ago

[dead]

amriksohata 4y ago

Pretty standard in Bengal, if you speak against Mamata Banarjee you will get attacked

throwaway384629 4y ago
So are you supporting this types of illegal activities because as per you Mamata Banarjee also does the same? Will you also support a crime because other criminals also do it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_don%27t_make_a_right https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_don%27t_make_a_righ...
- amriksohata 4y ago
  No I dont agree or support this, I'm just saying all political parties in Asia do this. In Pakistan and India and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, oppositions and governments.