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Fahad Shah

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Fahad Shah is an Indian journalist from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He is the founder and editor of the news magazine The Kashmir Walla. He was a recipient of a Human Rights Press Award in 2021.[1]

Fahad Shah
Born
Fahad Shah

(1990-11-26) November 26, 1990 (age 33)
Soura, Jammu and Kashmir, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materSOAS University of London
University of Kashmir
OccupationJournalist
OrganisationThe Kashmir Walla
AwardsHuman Rights Press Award

Shah was arrested on 4 February 2022 by Jammu and Kashmir Police for alleged 'incorrect reporting' of an encounter.[2][3][4][5] He has three UAPA cases pending against him.[6]

Education

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Shah studied journalism at the University of Kashmir. In 2013, he was selected as a Felix scholar to pursue Critical Media and Cultural Studies at SOAS, University of London.[7]

Career

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Shah tried to break into journalism in Delhi in 2009. The Kashmir Walla was initially his personal blog when he started it in 2011. Shah was interviewed about being a Kashmiri journalist by Mayank Austen Soofi. Disheartened by negative attitudes towards Kashmiris in comments to the article, Shah changed the focus of the blog to be a news magazine. He was selected for United States Department of State's Legislative Fellowship Program in 2017.[7]

The Kashmir Walla struggled prior to 2018, but later had a staff of 16 and in June 2019 started producing a weekly newspaper. Following the August 2019 Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the internet blackout and curfews led to the news magazine not being able to publish for months.[8] The news website as well as related social media handles were take down in India on 19 August 2023 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Information and Technology Act, 2000.[9]

Shah edited the anthology 'Of Occupation and Resistance: Writings from Kashmir', published in 2013. The book was listed as one of the "most thought-provoking and intellectually-satisfying books" of 2013 by Hindustan Times.[10][11] He directed a documentary on the life of Maqbool Bhat titled 'Bring Him Back', released publicly in 2018.[12]

His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Time, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and the South China Morning Post.[13]

Controversies

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Detention and harassment

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Shah has been summoned multiple times by Indian security agencies in relation to news reports he has published. Following his return from a trip to Pakistan in 2017, Shah was detained and questioned by police.[13]

In July 2018 a teargas shell was fired into Shah's residence. Witnesses reported that the shell had been fired by security forces or armed forces. Shah's car was also vandalized by a paramilitary group.[14]

Sexual harassment allegations

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In October 2018, Shah was accused of sexual harassment and molestation by multiple women during the height of the Metoo movement in India.[15][16][17] Shah was accused by a former girlfriend of his, who claimed in a facebook post that he had molested her and a friend of hers at a party in 2017.[18] The woman accused him of touching her inappropriately and of locking himself in a washroom with her friend.[18] Shah was also accused of sexual harassment by a female journalist, who claimed he had tried to force her to kiss him.[15] The woman also claimed that she had been contacted by other women, including those who had studied with Shah at SOAS or worked as journalists in Kashmir, and claimed that Shah had a pattern, "is forceful, doesn’t back down despite repeated nos and likes to paint himself as a victim."[15] Shah was accused in a publicly accessible google document containing testimonies by several women compiled by a women's rights group called Kashmir Women's Collective.[18][a] Shah was then accused by two more women who had worked in his magazine.[15]

Following the allegations, Shah defended himself through a post on facebook, claiming that the allegations were "completely false" and part of a "concerted vilification campaign" against him.[21] Shah also admitted that his former girlfriend and her friend had been accusing him of molestation for a while.[21] Owing to the allegations against Shah, news website Firstpost, which Shah had previously contributed to, suspended use of his services until an inquiry into the allegations was done.[19]

Arrest and imprisonment

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Shah was arrested by Kashmiri police on 4 February 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for "frequently glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news, and instigating people".[1] He was charged with allegedly glorifying terrorism[22][23][24] and was booked under the Public Safety Act.[25] He had been called in for questioning following coverage in The Kashmir Walla of a police raid in the Pulwama district where four people were killed.[26]

Shah was investigated for making statements causing public mischief and for sedition, but was granted bail on 26 February. He was immediately rearrested on separate charges including "provocation with intent to cause a riot", stemming from reports by The Kashmir Walla on allegations that official pressure was placed on a Kashmir school.[27]

Shah was again granted bail on 6 March,[28] and rearrested.[1]

In April 2022, Shah's home and the offices of the news magazine were raided by Kashmir police and SIA over an opinion article titled "The shackles of slavery will break" written by The Kashmir Walla contributor Abdul Aala Fazili in 2011.[29][30] An NIA court denied Shah bail on 15 July 2022.[31]

After about 21 months in Kot Bhalwal Jail,[32][33] on November 17 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court dismissed charges under various sections of UAPA against Shah observing that “[i]f this [the prosecution’s] argument is accepted, it would literally turn criminal law on its head. It would mean that any criticism of the Central government can be described as a terrorist act because the honour of India is its incorporeal property.”[34][35]

Awards

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Shah was nominated for a Reporters Without Borders award in 2020.[36] He received the Human Rights Press Award for Explanatory Feature Writing in 2021 for reporting on violence against Muslims in Delhi for The Nation.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ In the post releasing the document, Kashmir Women's Collective cautioned that the allegations not be seen as an "attack on Kashmiris."[19] Following the allegations, the group faced a 'smear campaign' against them.[20]
  1. ^ a b c d Bustillos, Maria (2 March 2022). "Fahad Shah, and the perils of reporting in Kashmir". Columbia Journalism Review.
  2. ^ "'Gut-Wrenching': Kashmir Walla Staff Say Government Blocked Their Website". The Wire. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Police arrest Kashmir journalist Fahad Shah". Greater Kashmir. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Hours after bail, J&K journalist Fahad Shah arrested for the third time". The Indian Express. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  5. ^ Ali, Jehangir (14 March 2022). "Day Before Bail Hearing, J&K Journalist Fahad Shah Booked Under Public Safety Act". The Wire. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  6. ^ Saran, Mekhala (25 April 2022). "Legal Experts Question New UAPA FIR Against Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Fahad shah". Prisoners of Conscience in India. 22 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  8. ^ Tameez, Hanaa' (5 August 2020). "One year after India cracked down on Kashmir, The Kashmir Walla turns to membership to survive". Nieman Lab.
  9. ^ "Over a year after editor's arrest, The Kashmir Walla says its website taken down". The Indian Express. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  10. ^ Shah, Fahad (2013). Of Occupation and Resistance: Writings from Kashmir. Tranquebar Press. ISBN 978-93-83260-01-0.
  11. ^ "More fact than fiction". Hindustan Times. 30 December 2013. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  12. ^ "FILM Bring him back: Documentary on Maqbool Bhat released 34 years after his hanging". Kashmir Life. 11 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  13. ^ a b Bustillos, Maria (13 February 2020). "How one Kashmiri magazine survived a press crackdown". Columbia Journalism Review.
  14. ^ "Teargas attack on reporter's home in Kashmir | RSF". Reporters Without Borders. 12 July 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d Parveen, Rahiba R. (9 October 2018). "Women in conservative Kashmir rally behind #MeToo, call out their abusers". ThePrint. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  16. ^ "With Arrest of Editor After Reporting Both Sides Of Story, Govt Escalates Criminalisation Of Journalism In Kashmir — Article 14". article-14.com. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  17. ^ "#MeToo hits home: Journalists add to long list of sexual harassers in and outside newsrooms". Free Press Kashmir. 7 October 2018.
  18. ^ a b c "Kashmir's #MeToo Arrives: Women Recount Sexual Abuse, Harassment". TheQuint. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  19. ^ a b "#MeToo: Kashmir Women's Collective puts out list of harassment cases; allegations crop up against several scribes". Firstpost. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  20. ^ Magill, Severyna (14 October 2018). "Smear Campaign Against Kashmiri Women Saying #MeToo An Attempt to Force Them Into Silence". The Wire. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Actor Rajat Kapoor apologises after being accused of misconduct as #MeToo gains momentum in India". Scroll.in. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  22. ^ Ali, Jehangir. "In PSA Order, Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah Accused of 'Promoting Separatism'". The Wire. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Kashmir journalist arrested amid widening crackdown". Al Jazeera. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  24. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (6 February 2022). "Editor arrested in Kashmir as press crackdown escalates". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  25. ^ Aswani, Tarushi (18 March 2022). "Noted Kashmiri Journalist Jailed Again Despite Being Granted Bail Twice". The Diplomat. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  26. ^ Mashal, Mujib (5 February 2022). "Editor in Kashmir Is Arrested Amid Intensifying Clampdown". The New York Times.
  27. ^ "Indian authorities arrest journalist Nilesh Sharma, re-arrest Fahad Shah". Committee to Protect Journalists. 9 March 2022.
  28. ^ ""Fahad Shah"". USCIRF.
  29. ^ "Indian authorities raid The Kashmir Walla, arrest contributor over 2011 article". Committee to Protect Journalists. 19 April 2022.
  30. ^ "In Fahad Shah bail order, HC says probe agency lacked evidence, case against him 'dug out' after 11 years". The Indian Express. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  31. ^ "NIA court denies bail to Abdul Fazili, Fahad Shah". The Hindu. 15 July 2022.
  32. ^ "Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah walks out of jail after 600 days". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  33. ^ "Indian authorities release Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah after 21 months in prison". AP News. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  34. ^ Network, KL News (18 November 2023). "Fahad Shah Released". Kashmir Life. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  35. ^ Roy, Vaishna (28 December 2023). "A nation at crossroads: Reflections on what India faced in 2023". Frontline. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  36. ^ "RSF announces nominees for its 2020 Press Freedom Awards". Reporters Without Borders. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
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