By Muslim Mirror Staff
New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has issued a statement saying that it is ”deeply disturbed” by reports of inhuman treatment being meted out to journalist Siddique Kappan in Uttar Pradesh.
Kappan, who has been incarcerated for more than six months, have recently tested positive for Coivd-19. His wife Raihanat Siddique has alleged that he is ”chained like an animal in a cot of the hospital” and has been denied the right to go to toilet for several days in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.
”This is shocking and should stir the conscience of the nation that ajournalist is being treated in this cruel manner and being denied basic rights,” the statement added.
The EGI added 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,” the EGI said.
In November 2020, the EGI had also written a letter to Adityanath over several instances of state persecution and violence against journalists, including that of Kappan.
The EGI demanded that Siddique Kappan be given proper medical treatment at the earliest and that he be treated with dignity. The Guild further urged the Supreme Court to urgently take up the pending writ petition and give him a fair trial.
He must be released…