India: Physical attack on the Caravan’s staff and sexual harassment targeting its female reporter, reflects growing gendered aggression against the press.

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August 12, 2020, Delhi, India -- On August 11, a crowd attacked three reporters working with The Caravan, in upper east Delhi's North Ghonda neighborhood. For around 90 minutes, the three reporters — Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh and a woman journalist, whose name is not disclosed for safety reasons — endured an onslaught of racist, islamophobic and sexist slurs, death threats. The woman journalist was also sexually harassed.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism strong condemns the sexual assault directed towards The Caravan’s team. We demand authorities in India to take strict and swift action against those who have sexually harassed their woman reporter.

The publication’s reporters were investigating a story about islamophobic attacks against a Muslim woman and her 17-year-old daughter, when a group of men and women approached them and asked to see their identity cards. They later resorted to brutal attacks towards them.

According to The Caravan, the attack started at around 2 pm, when a group of 100 people encircled the writers, and began ambushing them after learning about Tantray's Muslim identity. They kept the two male reporters locked in a gate, while she kept pleading for their release. It is when a man pulled at her apparel and attempted to drag her inside. The journalist managed to escape from getting locked in the gate but was then surrounded by the same group of men who took her videos without consent all the while yelling at her to “show” her body. She was then sexually assaulted when a middle-aged man flashed at her, while making lewd gestures and comments.

The journalist attempted to escape the ground again when she was called by her male colleagues, who informed her that they were being taken to Bhajanpura police station. But as she was asking for directions to the station, the mob found her again and physically attacked her, causing injuries. In her complaint, she described the attackers as a group of three women and three men, who violently assaulted her. 

As the assaults continued, the woman journalist saw a cop and ran towards him for help. "This policeman sought to trivialize the situation and told us to negotiate among ourselves, to settle the conflict," she recounted in her complaint. It was a while later when another police officer agreed to take her to the police station to file a complaint.

The other two journalists who arrived at the police station before their woman colleague, also recalled the neglect of the police forces. They said that when they were being beaten up, the police did not take any action against the aggressors, and instead treated the journalists like criminals.

Indifference of the security personnel did not end there, as despite two separate detailed complaints (a joint one by two male reporters and a separate one by the woman journalist), the issuance of a First Information Report (FIR) was refused. The chief officer of Bhajanpura police station explained that there was a counter-complaint by the attackers and that they were looking at “both sides” of the story before registering an FIR, despite visible injuries all three reporters suffered from.

The Caravan in a series of tweets denounced the assault their staff endured, further adding that intimidation attempts towards journalists will not deter them from reporting about important issues in Delhi.

Hartosh Singh Bal, the magazine’s political editor, also tweeted exposing the inaction of the police forces.

According to The Wire India, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ved Prakash Surya refuted the claims by saying that “Police acted swiftly to pacify the situation. Complaints filed by both sides and being enquired into.” Surya then went on to claim that the reporters were acting in a malicious and misleading manner to create distrust among community members.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism denounces the claims of the DPC. We find the indifference and negligence of Bhajanpura police station despicable. It is disturbingly ironic that the three journalists, who were attacked on August 11, were conducting follow-up reporting on the beating and sexual assault claims of a woman who complained about racist and Islamophobic mobs. The complainant in that case was also rejected in her request of the issuance of a FIR and claimed that police personnel thrashed and sexually assaulted her, as well as her daughter.

Delhi Police is under the direct control of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party government, specifically the home minister and party president, Amit Shah, who is one of the most fervent advocates of the BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda, which aims to establish India as a Hindu, rather than a secular, nation. As a result, the political agenda of the BJP government - which is widely seen as vehemently anti-Muslim - under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appears to have become firmly entrenched in the mindset of the Delhi police, which is already an overwhelmingly Hindu force.

India remains to be one of the most dangerous places for journalists. This year alone, CFWIJ has documented at least 28 cases of threats against women journalists. These threats range from attacks in the field, online abuse, verbal harassment, physical assaults, sexual harassment and assault among others.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism deplores the reckless, self-serving attitude of Delhi Police in the face of violence by angry tribals who brutally attacked The Caravan’s staff, especially the viciuous sexual harassment of their woman reporter. This kind of inaction serves to cause more violence towards journalists and further oppresses freedom of the press, which is the bedrock of a democratic and peaceful community. We call upon authorities to immediately register an FIR against the perpetrators and serve to protect the woman journalist in question.