New Delhi, Feb 11 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday raised the issue related to the arrest of journalists Fahad Shah, Sajjad Gul and Siddique Kappan, and expressed concerns over press freedom in the country. Raising the issue in zero hour, Tharoor said Jammu and Kashmir based journalist Fahad Shah was arrested on charge of sedition, and Sajjad Gul was arrested under the Public Safety Act. He also said the prolonged detention of Siddiqui Kappan in UP under UAPA remains “a blot on our conscience”.
“Several organisations like Reporters Without Borders and the Editors Guild of India have condemned these arrests and have identified it as a part of a larger pattern of deteriorating press freedom” he said. “India is ranked at 147 in the Press Freedom Index, and another organisation has named India as among the five most dangerous places for journalists,” he said. He urged the Home Minister to order the release of Shah, Gul and Kappan.
