{"id":2579,"date":"2026-10-12T20:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2026-10-12T20:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:03:43","slug":"reporters-accuse-india-of-crackdown-on-journalists-press-freedom-at-youth-led-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2579","title":{"rendered":"Reporters accuse India of crackdown on journalists, press freedom at youth-led protests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Police used excessive and targeted force on journalists covering youth-led protests in India, local press groups and international media rights bodies said, and warned that \u200bpress freedom in the country was under threat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Young Indians, mobilised by the \u201ccockroach\u201d youth movement and supported by opposition parties, took \u200cto the streets of New Delhi on the weekend demanding the resignation of India\u2019s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a sharply contested revision of voter lists in the country.<\/p>\n

They allege the names of more than 130 million voters were deleted from the electoral roll to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections, a charge \u200bthe Election Commission denies.<\/p>\n

Nearly three dozen journalists from outlets including the Indian Express, Scroll and Newslaundry were detained for hours before being \u200breleased, according to Reuters<\/em> interviews with some journalists.<\/p>\n

Some were dragged and roughly handled by the police, and their phones \u2060were seized, according to a Reuters<\/em> reporter at the scene, journalists interviewed by Reuters<\/em>, and footage from mainstream and digital news outlets.<\/p>\n

Some of those detained \u200bsaid they were clearly identifiable as members of the press. The Reuters<\/em> journalist was also briefly detained.<\/p>\n

The Delhi police did not immediately reply to an \u200be-mailed request for comment on how many journalists were detained and why, and how they were handled by officers.<\/p>\n

Earlier, police said in a video posted on X that some protesters had posed as journalists and had interfered with their work.<\/p>\n

The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actions of the Indian authorities during the recent \u200bstudent protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, demonstrate how their tactics are designed to stifle media coverage and can be combined to suppress \u200bjournalism,\u201d said Ritika Jain, India representative of Reporters Without Borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetention, surveillance, internet shutdowns, and the removal of journalistic content form a chain of restrictions,\u201d she said, urging authorities \u200cto remove \u2060restrictions on journalists.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Court ruled police should not impede reporters<\/h3>\n

The police action led lawyers to seek a ruling from India\u2019s top court on Sunday to allow lawyers and journalists to perform their duties, with the court ruling in favour.<\/p>\n

However, some detentions came after the court order, journalists said.<\/p>\n

Press Club of India, the nation\u2019s largest journalists\u2019 group, called the police action \u201ca blatant attack on the freedom of the press.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a joint statement with three other bodies, it said journalists \u200bwere held while they were filming \u200bthe police detaining protesters and \u2060their devices were seized.<\/p>\n

The associations also sought a formal apology and investigation into the actions of senior police officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was interviewing some people detained in a bus when a police officer came at me and grabbed my mic\u2026I \u200bwas dragged, my phone was snatched, and I was forcefully detained along with my producer,\u201d Anmol Pritam, a \u200breporter at Indian digital \u2060news outlet Newslaundry, told Reuters<\/em>. He was detained for nearly three hours on October 10.<\/p>\n

Police did not respond to a request for comment on the case.<\/p>\n

India ranks 157 out of 180 countries in the press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders, having fallen from 133 a decade ago. Critics attribute the drop \u2060to the Modi \u200bgovernment\u2019s increased attempts to restrain the press and shrink space for critical or dissenting \u200bvoices in its 12-year rule. The Indian government has often denied the claim.<\/p>\n

The Indian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment e-mailed outside usual work hours.<\/p>\n

The Indian Constitution recognises journalists\u2019 rights under free speech provisions but also allows authorities to impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Police used excessive and targeted force on journalists covering youth-led protests in India, local press groups and international media rights bodies said, and warned that \u200bpress freedom in the country was under threat. Young Indians, mobilised by the \u201ccockroach\u201d youth movement and supported by opposition parties, took \u200cto the streets of New Delhi on the weekend demanding the resignation of India\u2019s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a sharply contested revision of voter lists in the country. They allege the names of more than 130 million voters were deleted from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}