Asif Sultan, whose case has been pleaded by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and various other bodies on Thursday completes two years under detention.
CPJ along with nearly 400 journalists and civil society members called for Asif’s release by writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asif, a resident of Batamaloo who worked as an editor with a Srinagar based magazine, Kashmir narrator was detained for questioning and he was subsequently booked an under Anti- Militancy offence.
Aasif is lodged at the Central Jail of Srinagar, his daughter, Areeba was just 6 months old when her father was arrested in the middle of the night in August 2018.
“She is now two and half years old, and asks about him everyday”,his family told the media.
Charged under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other relevant cases by the police in Srinagar, Aasif’s friends and colleagues say the charges against him are baseless.
He was charged with harbouring militants, months after he wrote a story in a local magazine called Kashmir Narrator, where he worked as an assistant editor, about how Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani had inspired hundreds of youths into militancy, after speaking with his associates.
Aasif recently featured in the lots of top ten cases of a threat to press freedom throughout the world.
Asif’s detention has received global attention as people have taken to social media platforms demanding his immediate release and condemning his detention.
On Thursday, people took to Twitter in condemnation of Asif’s detention using hashtags: #FreeAasifSultan #FreeThePress #JournalismIsNotACrime #AsifSultan