Advertisement
India
AsiaSouth Asia

Kashmir journalist Fahad Shah arrested under India’s anti-terror law

  • Police said Shah was identified as publishing ‘antinational content’ with ‘criminal intention’ to create fear and ‘provoke the public to disturb law and order’
  • The award-winning journalist and editor of news portal Kashmir Walla has also reported for several foreign publications, including the South China Morning Post

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Fahad Shah, right, seen at work inside the Kashmir Walla newsroom in Srinagar last month. Photo: AP
Associated Pressin Srinagar
Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they arrested a prominent journalist on accusations of publishing “antinational content,” in a widening crackdown against media in the disputed region.
Fahad Shah, the editor of news portal Kashmir Walla, was summoned for questioning in southern Pulwama town on Friday and later arrested.

Police said he was identified among Facebook users and portals that had published “antinational content”, without specifying what it is. It said the content was posted with “criminal intention” to create fear and could “provoke the public to disturb law and order”. It said such content was “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities”.

Kashmir Walla Editor-in-Chief Fahad Shah, seated centre right, seen with other Kashmiri journalists in January discussing the closure of the region’s only independent press club. Photo: AP
Kashmir Walla Editor-in-Chief Fahad Shah, seated centre right, seen with other Kashmiri journalists in January discussing the closure of the region’s only independent press club. Photo: AP

The case relates to a gunfight between rebels trapped inside a civilian home and Indian troops in Pulwama on January 30. Police had said a Kashmiri rebel commander was killed in the fighting along with a Pakistani and another local militant. They described the fourth slain teenage boy, the house owner’s son, as a “hybrid” militant, a term authorities began using last year for alleged militants with no police record and who operate as civilians.

Kashmir Walla carried a series of reports on the fighting presenting both sides of the story. One video report quoted family members of the slain boy refuting the police. Another video quoted the boy’s sister contradicting an earlier statement from the family.

Shah, 34, was arrested under India’s harsh anti-terror and sedition laws, which include punishment of up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Shah and a few other reporters associated with Kashmir Walla have been questioned for their reporting several times in the last few years.

Advertisement