Opinion Sidheeque Kappan says: ‘I was not arrested for being a Muslim… but because I’m a journalist from Kerala’
Sidheeque Kappan says: Despite what I endured during 28 months in jail, my professional resolve is intact
Journalist Sidheeque Kappan poses for photos following his release from the Lucknow District Jail, in Lucknow. (PTI) 
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My work as a journalist and my passion for writing and reporting about oppressed communities will not be affected by anything that has happened over the last 28 months. My resolve is intact. This period has been very difficult for my family and me. I have a son, Muzammil, who is 19, and two minor children. I have been in two jails, under the most serious of charges — under the UAPA, National Security Act and for sedition, among others. For what? Because I was going to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to do a ground report about the alleged gangrape of a Dalit girl in the district. I have always reported on oppressed communities and when the alleged gangrape happened, it was a story I had to do for the Malayalam news portal I wrote for. Travelling for reporting was not new for me.
I have lived in Delhi since 2013 and used to cover the Supreme Court, Parliament, politics, and issues related to Dalit and minority communities. I was picked up by the police from Mathura and was charged with breach of peace. Those alleging that I was not a journalist may consider that I was the secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, and a member of the Press Club of India. Are these not press bodies?
In the last two years, all kinds of allegations have been levelled against me — that I was associated with the Popular Front of India and that I received money from abroad. I would like to state that all these allegations are false, and all my work since 2009 has been journalistic. Nothing more, nothing less. As a journalist, I had the contacts of PFI leaders — and BJP leaders too. That was part of my job. The chargesheet filed against me says that I was a Maoist sympathiser, and that my writings incited Muslims. I have always written about Dalit and minority communities and about the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It was part of my beat. On my laptop, an article was found about the UAPA. It had details of how the law has been used in the country: How many accused have been booked under the law, how many acquitted, and how many are under trial. I had a chart of all this based on details provided by the Home Ministry in reply to an RTI filed by me. I was working on a news report about the UAPA.
With all this as evidence, the police booked me and kept me in jail for 28 months. The past is the past now. I am happy I am out. I had a very difficult time in Mathura jail where I was kept for around a year. When the Covid protocols were in place, I was kept in isolation.
In the jails, only Hindi books were allowed. Not Malayalam, not English. And I can’t read Hindi.
One can imagine what life would be like for a family when the only earning member is jailed for more than two years. Several of my colleagues and activists came forward to help out the family during this time. I have received a lot of support from the media fraternity and I am thankful for that.
In the two years that I was lodged in prison, my family couldn’t come and meet me. The family members of someone who is accused in the same case as me had come from Kerala to meet him. But they were arrested from outside the jail, and a case was lodged against them. They had to spend two months in jail. After this happened, I advised my family to not meet me while I was in prison.
I would not say that I was arrested because I am a Muslim. Everyone keeps saying that, but I don’t agree. I say I was arrested because I am a journalist and because I am from Kerala. I am a practising Muslim, but I believe that it was my identity as a journalist from Kerala which was used to target me.
Sidheeque Kappan, a journalist, was arrested in October 2020 on his way to Hathras and was released on bail on February 1, 2022. As told to Asad Rehman
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