Five journalists killed in India in 2021
December 9, 2021
So far this year, there were five journalists murdered in India, the most in any country, according to the New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). They are among at least 24 journalists who were killed around the globe; and 1,411 since 1992.
Buddhinath (Avinash) Jha of BNN News, 22-years-old, was the latest journalist to be killed in India. On November 9, he was kidnapped in Madhubani district, Bihar. His brother filed a complaint with the police, alleging that the owners of 11 private illegal nursing homes in the area may have played a role in Jha’s disappearance.
Jha reported about the clinics for the news outlet, Kanhaiya Kashyap, chief editor of BNN News told CPJ. Jha had also “filed complaints against” the clinics with local medical officials, which led to the closure of some of them and fines against others, The Wire reported.
Two days before his kidnapping, Jha announced on his Facebook page that he would soon launch a new campaign against the illegal clinics, Kashyap told CPJ.
On November 12, Jha’s severely burned body was found in a bag under a tree, along a major highway in Madhbani.
The other journalists killed in India this year were Chennakeshavulu of EVS, Manish Kumar Singh of Sudarshan TV, Raman Kashyap of Sadhna Plus TV and Sulabh Srivastava of ABP News ABP Ganga. As in Jha’s case, they were killed for exposing criminal and illegal actitivies. For instance, Chennakeshavulu, 35-years-old, was allegedly murdered by a suspended police man and his brother, after he reported on the constable’s dealings with gamblers and tobacco smugglers in Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh.
Danish Siddiqui, an Indian photo-journalist working for the news service Reuters, was killed in Afghanistan this year. He was covering the Taliban takeover of the country, when he was hit by crossfire, according to the Taliban. Siddiqui’s body was mutilated. Siddiqui had received the 2018 Pulitzer prize for Feature Photography for his work as part of the Reuters team covering the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar. He is survived by his wife, Rike, and two children.
Also, this year, seven journalists were jailed in India. They are: Aasif Sultan of the Kashmir Narrator; Tanveer Warsi of Prabhat Sanket; and freelancers Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, Manan Dar, Rajeev Sharma and Siddique Kappan. They are among the 293 jailed around the world. In addition, there are 66 journalists missing, with about a quarter of them in China.
A few days after Avinash Jha’s body was found, the police arrested six people, including the owner of an illegal nursing home. As of late last month, there had been no developments in the investigation of the murder. CPJ “texted Satya Prakash, the police superintendent for Madhubani district, which is overseeing the case, for comment, but did not receive any reply.”
Overall, around the world, “In over eight out of 10 cases where a journalist has been targeted for murder, their killers go free,” the CPJ notes.
In an effort to expose and combat the killing of journalists, CPJ, Free Press Unlimited, and Reporters Without Borders have jointly set up A Safer World For The Truth. The project pursues justice, including via a “digital monument” to murdered journalists, as well as supporting, documenting, and investigating cold cases.
CPJ points out that, “The price of a story should never be that high—and the murder of a journalist should never be accepted. The murder of a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship.”
