The Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, on Wednesday, 6 July, expressed concern over various incidents of restrictions being imposed on journalists in India.
The FCC cited restrictions imposed on Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo “from leaving India to visit France, where she was invited to exhibit her work at the prestigious international photojournalism festival of Arles.”
It also mentioned the arrest of fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, who “has been arrested and jailed for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ for tweeting an image four years ago.”
It further noted the recent commitment "to protect free speech, online and offline” made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 meeting in Germany.
“While appreciating that commitment, the FCC South Asia hopes that such commitments are implemented, and any action against journalists is proportionate, transparent and backed by evidence."Statement by The Foreign Correspondents Club
A Pulitzer-winner, Mattoo was reportedly stopped by immigration authorities while trying to fly to Paris from Delhi.
After the incident, Mattoo tweeted saying, “I was scheduled to travel from Delhi to Paris today for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of 10 award winners of the Serendipity Arles grant 2020. Despite procuring a French visa, I was stopped at the immigration desk at Delhi airport.”
“I was not given any reason but told I would not be able to travel internationally,” she said.
Meanwhile, journalist Mohammad Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police on 27 June for a tweet from 2018. A day later, a Delhi Court remanded Zubair to 4 days in police custody. The arrest was at the behest of an anonymous Twitter account that made a singular post on 19 June, saying that Zubair had insulted Hindus.
The account disappeared from the website following the news of Zubair's arrest, and only re-surfaced on 30 June.
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