Srinagar: National Press Club (NPC) leaders of United States Monday urged New Delhi to release from prison Aasif Sultan, a Kashmiri journalist who has been booked under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Sultan, a journalist for the Kashmir Narrator, completed two and half years in jail. He is lodged at Central Jail Srinagar, nearly 4 km away from his home at Batamaloo where his wife and three-year-old daughter live.
“Sultan was arrested in August 2018 on an unwarranted charge of harboring militants, although all he had done was interview and write about them,” said NPC leaders in a statement issued from Washington.
“Since he was imprisoned, almost all of his scheduled court dates in his trial have been postponed. His fate remains uncertain. He is at risk of contracting COVID-19 in crowded prison conditions. His father has a heart condition, and his entire family is distraught,” it said.
Sultan’s next hearing is set for February 26.
The NPC President Lisa Nicole Matthews and NPC Journalism Institute President Angela Greiling Keane said: “The National Press Club recognized Aasif Sultan with a 2019 John Aubuchon Press Freedom honor, singling him out among the world’s many journalists under duress, because his mistreatment was so egregious and because he was one of many journalists and citizens whose rights were abused in Kashmir.”
“Mr. Sultan remains in prison, and that is simply wrong. All he did was his job. On behalf of journalists everywhere, we say: it is past time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do what is necessary to allow Mr. Sultan to rejoin his family.”
Founded in 1908, the NPC is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.
Jammu and Kashmir Police maintained that Sultan has not been booked for any of his professional works but for allegedly harbouring and supporting militants who killed a policeman.
However, Sultan’s family and various journalists’ associations insist he was victimised for his journalism.
