Press Club Condemns Detention of Two Journalists at Jantar Mantar Protest

The Press Club of India has condemned the Delhi Police's decision to detain two journalists who were covering a protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The two journalists were Vedaant Lakhera of Frontline and Mohammamd Irfan of The Wire. In a statement issued in New Delhi on Saturday, the PCI said both were wearing their press identification cards at the time.

According to the statement, Lakhera was detained while asking police personnel why they were not wearing name tags. He was dragged to the Parliament Street police station and told to delete a photograph, which he did not do, before being released. Irfan was taken to a police station in Dwarka, where he was held for several hours along with protesters before being let go. At Jantar Mantar, a policeman also snatched Irfan's microphone, which carried the organisation's logo, and threw it aside; it could not be found afterwards.

PCI president Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty and Secretary-General Afzal Imam said the conduct of the Delhi Police, which is controlled directly by the Union Home Ministry, towards journalists in the national capital was a matter of grave concern.

In a separate statement, the PCI criticised the West Bengal Police's FIR against Maktoob Media over its reporting on the alleged exclusion of Muslim IAS and IPS officers from meetings during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visits to the State.

The PCI noted that there had been no official denial of the report, yet the police proceeded with the FIR. It said Maktoob was not informed about the FIR and learned of it only after a communication from X. The police have sought account creation, login and Android device details for the outlet's handle from X. The FIR names "UnknownPerson1", but its contents refer to Maktoob's social media posts.

The PCI described the FIR as an attack on press freedom and part of a pattern aimed at stopping independent journalism in the country.