Siddique Kappan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Siddique Kappan

• Siddique Kappan is an Indian Journalist, who was arrested on his way to Hathras, where he was going to cover the 2020 Hathra gang rape case of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.

• In 2009, he began working as a journalist at ‘Gulf Thejas Daily’. later, he joined Azhimukham, an independent Malayalam news portal, where he worked as a regular contributor. ^[9]The Print

• According to sources, he reports on the news related to crime, human rights, politics, and government persecution of journalists. He also worked as a freelancer for Prasadgan, a monthly Malayalam magazine.

• In 2013, he shifted to Delhi and began to work at the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ). Later, he became the secretary of the Delhi unit of secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).

• On 5 October 2020, when he was arrested by the UP police, he was kept in custody for questioning where he was reportedly assaulted by the police. On 21 November 2020, Siddique Kappan and Wills Mathews, a lawyer of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) had a half-an-hour meeting. Later, KUWJ filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court of India citing observations from the meeting which mentioned –
  

  He was beaten with a lathi three times on his thigh, slapped three times after taking out the spectacles, dragged, forced to stay awake from 6 pm to 6 am depriving him of sleep, without proper medicines, along with serious mental torture from October 5 to October 6, 2020.” ^[10]The Wire

• After he was arrested in the 2020 Hathras gang rape case, he was defended in court by lawyer Mohamed Dhanish. ^[11]The Indian Express

• In February 2021, he was allowed an interim bail of five days to meet his ailing mother. he was allowed to meet only his close family members. ^[12]The News Minute

• He tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2021 and was shifted to a hospital within the premises of the Mathura Jail for treatment. After his health got worse, he was admitted to K.M Medical College in Mathura for further treatment. On 27 April 2021, when he tested negative for COVID-19, he was taken back to the prison in Mathura; however, on 28 April 2021, Supreme Court directed to shift him to AIIMS Delhi. On 30 April 2021, he was shifted to AIIMS Delhi for better treatment. ^[13]The Times of India In May 2021, he again tested positive for COVID-19.

• In July 2021, many international news organisations protested against his arrest by the Uttar Pradesh police in the 2020 Hathras gang rape case and demanded his release. In an interview, Scott Griffen, IPI Deputy Director of the International Press Institute (IPI), an international network that aims to protect press freedom, spoke against his arrest and said that IPI condemned the arrest of Siddique Kappan and the “unacceptable ill-treatment” towards him. He said,
  

  We are extremely concerned that Mr Kappan was targeted and detained due to his journalistic activity. In the absence of evidence justifying these accusations, all charges against Mr Kappan must be immediately dropped. The growing targeting of critical journalists in India is extremely concerning. All journalists in the country must be able to safely cover events in the public interest, without fear of harassment, detention or discrimination.” ^[14]The News Minute

• In October 2021, the Press Club of India, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, and the Delhi Union of Journalists at the Press Club organised a meeting titled ‘Black Day Protest’ meeting to protest against the arrest of Siddique Kappan and demand his release from jail.

• In an interview, Raihanath Kappan, Siddique’s wife, revealed that UP police harassed him when he admitted that he eats beef. She alleged that the police tortured him physically and mentally, and the authorities did not provide him with medicines for diabetes. ^[15]BBC She said,
  

  He was asked by UP police if he used to eat beef. He said yes and was beaten up. Our family was not informed of his arrest, and we saw it on the news.” ^[16]The Siasat Daily

• In an interview, he shared that when he was in jail, he was not given access to Malayalam and English language books and was told to read Hindi books only. Later, with the help of his lawyer, he was allowed to read Malayalam and English language books.

• On 15 August 2022, Mehnaz Kappan, Siddique Kappan’s daughter, took to her school stage to give a speech on the occasion of India’s 76th Independence Day. At the beginning of the speech, she talked about her father being locked up in a dark room of the jail. She said,
  

  I am Mehnaz Kappan. Daughter of journalist Siddique Kappan, a citizen who has been forced into a dark room by breaking all of the freedom of a citizen.” ^[17]The Quint

• In an interview, when he was asked why he went to Hathras to report on the 2020 Hathras gang-rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl by four men, he said that he found the case special and interesting as the dead body of the girl was cremated without the approval and presence of her family members. ^[18]YouTube – BBC News Hindi

• According to some reports, the Uttar Pradesh government alleged that Siddique Kappan had links with the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic political organisation in India; however, in 2022, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs banned the organisation for 5 years.

• In an interview, he revealed that everyone tried to make him believe that the major reason for his arrest by the UP police was that he was a Muslim, however, he believed that he is a journalist and belongs to Kerala was the reason why he was arrested. ^[19]The Indian Express

• In an interview, after he was released from jail on 2 February 2023, he said that he had to stay in jail for over a month after he got bail in December 2022. He said that journalism is not a crime, and he will continue to fight for justice,
  

  This is half-baked justice. Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail… 28 months after a long fight. I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid.” ^[20]NDTV

• In an interview, he revealed his future plans and said that he would continue to work as a journalist in an organisation.