ON August 8, 2020, ten Muslim women from Subhash Mohalla in Delhi went to the Bhajanpura police station to make the police register a first information report on their complaint that some men had tried to foment communal tension in their locality on August 5.
Two of the women and a 16-year-old girl, who went inside the police station, later alleged that the officers had manhandled and molested them. The officers denied the allegations.
Two journalists, Shahid Tantray of Caravan magazine and freelancer Prabhjit Singh, who visited the police station, said something had happened to the girl. “She was in shock,” said Tantray. “In the morning we spoke to her and filed a story about the molestation and assault.”
Killings, attacks and intimidation: Journalism under fire across borders
Illustration: Noor Us Safa Anik
For the first time, media organisations in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal are coming together to report about the killings, attacks, harassment, and intimidation of journalists in these South Asian countries. It is the first such collaboration by media outlets in the region.
By Nirmal Jovial
On the evening of August 8, 2020, ten women from Subhash Mohalla in North East Delhi proceeded to the Bhajanpura police station to make the police register a first information report on a complaint they had made two days before. The complaint was that some men had tried to foment communal tension in their locality. The complainants said the men had abused Muslims, tied saffron flags near a mosque and burst crackers in celebration of a ceremony for the construction of a temple at faraway Ayodhya on August 5.