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Mumbai woman journalist's detention shows how cops are intolerant to media

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DailyBiteDec 28, 2017 | 14:09

Mumbai woman journalist's detention shows how cops are intolerant to media

According to the 2017 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters without Borders (RWB), India was ranked 136 out of 180 countries. In a country that has been witnessing a rise in intolerance for the media, the dismal ranking is not surprising. Keep that in mind, and the following tale sounds horrifyingly normal.

On December 26, Priyanka Borpujari, a freelance journalist from Mumbai, was arrested by the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police from a slum in the city's Vakola area and roughed up.

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What happened

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was evicting slum-dwellers in Vakola and was about to embark upon a demolition drive at noon. Borpujari, who was present there after a tip-off (her domestic help was a resident of those slums), was clicking photographs of the scene. This angered the police. Around 1.30pm, she was detained by the cops and escorted to the BKC police station, where she claims her phone was taken away from her. She also claims that despite repeated requests to make a phone call, she was kept waiting at the police station till 4pm.

Peter Griffin, the deputy editor of The Hindu, a newspaper for which Borpujari regularly contributes, tweeted about the incident: “One of our journalists assaulted by cops while filming slum demolitions near Grand Hyatt. Cop wanted to confiscate her phone, not allowing her to make phone calls. Now she's not answering her phone,” tagging the commissioner of police and joint commissioner (law and order) of Mumbai city. According to Griffin, Borpujari had called him while she was being taken to the police station. Gautam S Mengle, another reporter at The Hindu, tweeted: “Assaulted and taken to Vakola police station while she was taking pictures of the slum demolition in Kalina.”

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Borpujari was booked under section 353 of the Indian Penal Code – assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty. She has also been booked under section 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), section 114 (abettor being present when offence is committed), section 141 (show of criminal force), section 143 (unlawful assembly) and section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.

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Photo: DailyO

Speaking to HuffPo, Borpujari said: "They were trying to intimidate me, they kept snatching my phone away, and when I bent down to pick it up, they pulled my shirt. I came home with two-three bruises and contusions."

She also claimed, "The police said I was apparently instigating protesters. I've been a journalist for many years now. I have covered human rights [issues]. There is no way I would incite violence. I am shocked that this allegation has been levelled against me. I remember clearly, I kept saying over and over again 'mujhe apna kaam karne do (let me do my job)’. Because that's what journalists are supposed to do under such circumstances."

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Allegedly, the reason why Borpujari’s phone was confiscated was that she had managed to catch cops assaulting slum-dwelling children on camera.

The police’s side

As per reports, the police claimed that Borpujari was instigating the residents of the slum, which resulted in the gathered crowd turning aggressive. “She was asked to identify herself. She refused to. Instead, she started to instigate the mob that had gathered at the spot of the demolition,” a police officer told The Wire.

Senior police inspector Gadekar, speaking to Scroll, added that FIRs were filed against five women, including Borpujari: “The women are allowed to go home. We will pursue the matter in court.”

DCP Anil Kumbhare, the divisional commissioner for Zone VIII, also told The Hindu that of the women who were detained, the freelance journalist was held for "encouraging slum dwellers and instigating them to protest against the action taken by the BMC." "She has been charged with being an activist and not a reporter. Many of our officials confirmed that she was raising slogans and encouraging other women," he added.

A policeman, present at the spot, allegedly told Borpujari that if only she had had a press card, she would have been let off. 

The others

The Hindu reported that five women were detained, including Borpujari. The list included Anjali Rathore, a 21-year-old student and local who was detained after she bit the arm of a woman constable to allegedly protect herself.

“The BMC officials and police broke into my house and started demolishing it. I could not let my house be brought down to dust, so I sat in front of the JCB with 15 other women. The female police officers started pulling all of us out. When five women came near me, I decided to protect myself and instinctively bit the constable’s hand,” she said.

Neelam Gaikwad, a 44-year-old domestic help, added that while the BMC had indeed issued a notice regarding the demolition, the order was from 2009. If that's indeed the case, then the BMC arriving with its demolition squad without having followed up on its 2009 notice is not only bizarre but also sets a dangerous precedent for how civic authorities treat locals, especially those from economically weaker sections.

***

Not only is it ridiculous that freelance reporters have it difficult when it comes to obtaining press cards – HuffPo reported that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) issues accreditation cards for access to high security areas such as the Indian Parliament require five years of experience as a full-time journalist – the fact that the police would not even acknowledge her presence there as a journalist is all the more ridiculous. 

Journalist or not, the fact that Borpujari — an ordinary woman speaking up against assault on fellow citizens — was roughed up and arrested flies in the face of law and order, which the cops sought to maintain.

It is important to note that having a press card does not protect journalists from cops' high-handedness. In 2015, a Scroll journalist was detained by the cops while he was covering a beef ban protest. When he claimed he was a scribe, the cops refused to believe that his press card was genuine, denied him the right to make phone calls to his family or a lawyer.

Whether it is reporting about rising right-wing violence or Naxalites, it is becoming increasingly unsafe for journalists to be able to do their job. An IndiaSpend report says 142 attacks on journalists have been registered in 2014-15.

What happened to Borpujari — an independent journalist — is a shameful example of the state machinery trying to bully those reporting to expose its excesses.

Can there be a bigger reason for the world's largest democracy to be red-faced? Possibly not.

Last updated: December 28, 2017 | 14:09
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