Protest mounts over arrest of Kerala scribe arrested en route Hathras

Kochi: Protest is mounting over the arrest of Siddique Kappan, a journalist from Kerala and three others who were slapped with charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the UP police on their way to Hathras.

Several journalists’ organisations such as the Press Association of India and the Indian Women Press Corps have strongly condemned the arrest of Siddique and three others, terming it as the UP government’s attempt to silence the media.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) is organising protest meetings in all districts on Friday demanding immediate release of Siddique who is also the secretary of Delhi unit of the Union. The protest programmes will be in compliance with the prohibitory orders announced in the state till October 31.

Journalists in the state have also initiated a cyber campaign titled #ReleaseSiddiqueKappan. The journalists’ body will also launch an email campaign as part of which emails will be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The KUWJ had earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking immediate release of Siddique who has been working for several Malayalam media firms including the website azhimukham.com. The Delhi unit of the KUWJ has also written to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Modi urging immediate measures to release the scribe.

Siddique and the three others, arrested from Mathura on Monday, were sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court.

According to agency reports, the UP police claimed that the four people arrested Siddique, Atiq-ur Rehman, Masood Ahmed and Alam had links with the Popular Front of India.