Kashmiri Journalist Rearrested Days After Release
Aasif Sultan Could Spend Few Hours With His Five-and-Half-Year-old Daughter
Newsreel Asia Insight #149
March 3, 2024
A Kashmiri journalist, Aasif Sultan, has been rearrested under the stringent “anti-terror” law, merely days after his release from over five years of incarceration, according to media reports. Sultan, 36, a former editor of the now-defunct Kashmir Narrator magazine, found himself back in custody facing charges related to a 2019 case of violence within Srinagar’s central jail.
Sultan’s initial arrest in September 2018 on allegations of “harbouring militants” was widely condemned, with his family and supporters arguing he was targeted for his journalistic work. Despite securing bail in April 2022 for the 2018 case, Sultan’s freedom was short-lived as he was subsequently detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a law that allows for detention without trial for up to two years.
After being released on Feb. 27 from a jail in Uttar Pradesh, about 1,400 km from his hometown, he was able to spend only a brief period with his family before being taken into custody again, as reported by Al Jazeera. This brief reunion was his first opportunity to meet his five-and-half-year-old daughter, who was just an infant at the time of his initial arrest.
“His daughter is asking about him and we don’t know how long this fight can be,” one of Sultan’s relatives was quoted as saying.
The case for which Sultan has been rearrested pertains to rioting and violence inside the central jail in Srinagar, where he was already incarcerated. The charges include rioting, unlawful assembly, endangering human life and attempt to murder, in addition to advocating, abetting, or inciting unlawful activity under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The journalist’s father, Muhammad Sultan, said his son could spend only four and a half hours at home before they received a call from police, according to The Quint. “Our relatives and neighbours had converged here to congratulate us over Sultan’s release,” he was quoted as saying. “We were happy. But later during the day, we received a call from Batamaloo police station. They wanted Aasif to report there. Later, we learnt that he was driven to a separate police station in Rainawari in Srinagar.”
Rights activists say it is nearly impossible to secure bail under UAPA, suggesting Sultan could face an indefinite period in jail without trial.
Sultan’s work in 2018, particularly his profile of militant leader Burhan Wani, has been a point of contention, leading to accusations from the authorities of supporting militancy, according to the Quint. Wani’s death in 2016 sparked significant political turmoil in the former state. Sultan’s piece included testimonials from associates of Wani, offering insights from those who had closely collaborated with him.
Sultan, who has won international attention and awards including the John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, is the longest-incarcerated Kashmiri journalist who has spent 2,011 days in different jails across the country, according to The Telegraph.
Since the revocation of its autonomy in 2019, press freedom in Kashmir seems to have experienced further decline.
Fahad Shah, the founder and editor of the news portal The Kashmir Walla, was arrested in February 2022 on charges of sedition and terrorism. After enduring over 600 days behind bars, he was released when a court concluded there was “not enough evidence” to prosecute him for terrorism-related offenses, as reported by Al Jazeera.
