The Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan has completed 1000 days in jail today. He has been detained since 27 August 2018, under the Unlawful Activity Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly ‘harnessing known militants.’ His family has again refuted these claims.
Asif who has completed roughly three years in Jail has been denied bail several times.
Asif Sultan is a Srinagar-based journalist who covers politics and human rights for the ‘Kashmir Narrator.
“Asif had done a story titled ‘The Rise of Burhan Wani’, after which he received a lot of calls from the police to meet them. Asif told the police that he would meet them after Eid. But the police came to his house on the intervening night of 27 and 28 August and detained him.”
Asif got married in the year 2016, and at the time of his detention, his daughter was only six months old. His family is utterly distressed since the past three years.
“Most of Asif’s acquaintances say that it was his story related to Burhan Wani, that caught the attention of the authorities. While Wani was covered by media houses, internationally, Asif was detained for merely doing a profile of Burhan Wani.”
Asif is a dedicated journalist. He had got through medical college, but he chose to pursue Journalism.
He was awarded the Press Freedom Award by the American National Press Club for his journalism two years back in August 2019, while he remained in detention, Jammu Kashmir lost its autonomy when article 370 and the 35A were abrogated.
The National Press Club America had announced that it was giving its annual John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award year “to a journalist in Kashmir jailed for nearly a year for his reporting and to a U.S. reporter who has doggedly produced important accountability journalism despite harassment from powerful people. Sultan was imprisoned last August and is accused of aiding insurgents even though he merely reported on them , Sultan’s case reflects worsening conditions for the press and citizenry in Kashmir, a region in northern India that is partly controlled by India and partly by Pakistan.”
On 27 August, 2020,the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization based in New York City wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the release of Asif Sultan. The letter was signed by 397 journalists and civil society members.
CPJ had raised his case with Indian members of parliament, the European Union, the United Kingdom, French, and Norwegian embassies, and the US State Department.
“CPJ also had a poster printed in The Washington Post, in solidarity with Asif Sultan demanding that he is released.”
Aliya Iftikhar, senior researcher, Asia Desk, CPJ, in an interview with Mint said, “Unfortunately, it can be difficult to garner support for a Kashmiri journalist, especially when they are being accused under an anti-terror law, given the narratives and perception of Kashmir across India.”
Sultan also featured in TIME Magazine’s ’10 Most Urgent’ cases of threat press freedom around the world, last year.
In February, this year, the Clooney Foundation for Justice had said that they will monitor Asif’s case closely through its Trial Watch programme. In a statement, which came a day after a court hearing in Srinagar, regarding Sultan’s bail application.
“The Clooney Foundation for Justice calls on the authorities to ensure that Sultan’s bail hearing is conducted in accordance with international human rights law and any proceedings against him respect his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression.”
Muhammad Sultan, Asif’s father, in an interview with The Wire, said that he was happy that international organizations are putting pressure on the Modi government to ensure a fair trial for his son.
“We had last seen him on March 12, 2020 that was before the coronavirus lockdown, languishing at Central jail in Srinagar,” he said
“His daughter was six months old when Aasif was detained. Now she is three. Her mother always looks lonely and disconsolate.”
He is the only one in my family who can drive. In his absence, I am compelled to call my brothers or nephews if I am required to travel, he said.
Asif Sultan’s detention is a symbol of a threat to press freedom in Kashmir. He has been kept in detention not just for his reporting but to intimidate all the journalists in Kashmir. Journalism has become especially difficult after August 2019 when articles 370 and 35A were revoked.
Journalists are intimidated by the authorities. Masrat Zahra, a Freelance Photojournalist, and Gowhar Geelani, an independent journalist were booked under the UAPA while Qazi Shibli, the editor in chief of The Kashmiriyat, was detained twice in the past two years, once for nine months and for eighteen days the second time for news reporting.