Provide proper medical care, treat Kappan with dignity: Editors Guild

The Editors Guild of India on Monday demanded that journalist Siddique Kappan, who has tested positive for Covid-19 in custody, be given proper medical treatment at the earliest and that he be treated with dignity, amid reports that he has been chained to his bed in the hospital.

In a statement, the Editors Guild said it was "deeply disturbed" by reports of "inhuman treatment" being meted out Kappan, who has been in "custody since October 2020 under the draconian UAPA", for trying to report on the rape and death of a Dalit girl in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.

Referring to his wife's complaint that he has been tied to a bed and is neither able to take food nor access a toilet, while undergoing treatment at a Mathura Hospital for Covid-19, it said, "this is shocking and should stir the conscience of the nation that a journalist is being treated in this cruel manner and being denied basic rights."

Read | Arrested journalist Siddique Kappan chained to bed, writes Kerala CM Vijayan in letter to UP counterpart

The Guild claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been ignoring the demands from his family and the civil society for fair treatment of the journalist.

"It is further shocking that the Supreme Court of India has yet not intervened in this case to ensure a fair trial of the journalist, even though the Habeas Corpus petition challenging his arrest has been pending before the court for the past six months. All of this goes against the basic canons of a constitutional democracy where independent journalistic enterprises need to be protected rather than repressed," it said.

"The EGI demands that Siddique Kappan be given proper medical treatment at the earliest and that he be treated with dignity. The Guild also urges the Supreme Court to urgently take up the pending writ petition and give him a fair trial.

Tweeting a letter by Kappan's lawyer to Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, the Press Club of India said, "Journalist Siddique Kappan, who has tested +ve for Covid-19, is 'chained to a cot' in the hospital in Mathura. The Press Club of India urges the Supreme Court to take up the matter urgently and ensure that Kappan is treated humanely. Justice delayed is justice denied."

The Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) said it joins in demanding govt for a humane treatment and immediate bail to Kappan.

The Editors Guild also said that it has written a letter to the UP Chief Minister in November 2020 highlighting several instances of state persecution and violence against journalists, including that of Kappan.

"Since then, the situation has only worsened. Recently, the CM threatened to seize the property of anyone who reported on the paucity of oxygen in hospitals in the state. Such declamations have a chilling effect on media freedom, at a time when there is urgent need for objective reporting and accountability on the worsening pandemic," the Guild statement said.