![]() To appease their vote bank and public conscience, the state always needs a story of terrorism. So, getting three Muslims from UP along with a person like me from Kerala will fit that narrative. ![]() Even if they had been detained, the narrative of terrorism wouldn’t work. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Jayant Chaudhary, and Chandra Sekhar Azad of the Bhim Army were blocked on their way to Hathras. So to save the culprits and after realizing that the Hathras case would get public attention like the Nirbhaya case, we were arrested by the government to divert public attention away from the Hathras case. There were allegations that one of the culprits in Hathras case was related to a BJP leader. After realizing that the Hathras case would attract national and global attention, the case was handed over to the CBI. Kappan: We were detained on October 5, 2020, and our arrest was recorded the following day. Rejaz: Do you believe that your arrest and others were a ploy to divert public attention away from the Hathras case? How did you feel when three of the culprits were acquitted, and the remaining one was convicted without rape and murder charges by judiciary? It has been lightly edited for syntax and clarity. RememberingSwapanDasgupta ( 1st political prisoner and journalist to be killed in custody under UA(P)A), Gauri Lankesh, Hem Chandra Pandey, Danish Siddiqui, Shashikant Warishe, and other journalists who were murdered.” “Expressing solidarity with jailed journalists Aasif Sultan, Gautam Navalakha, Fahad Shah, Sajad Gul, Rupesh Kumar Singh, Irfan Mehraj, and other political prisoners. 40-year-old Raihana shared her and her children’s political observations and experiences following her husband’s arrest. During the 2.5-hour conversation, Sidheeq Kappan strongly shared his views on press freedom, state violence, the contemporary Indian political situation, and his experiences. On April 23, 2023, Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek interviewed Sidheeq Kappan and his wife, Raihanath, at their home. ![]() During that period, Kappan lost his mother, contracted Covid twice, and endured physical and mental torture in jail. He was released on bail on February 2nd, 2023, after spending 851 days in jail. Kappan was charged under various sections, including the UA(P)A and PMLA. He was en route to Hathras to report on the gang rape and murder of a Dalit girl (the Hathras case) by four upper-caste Thakur men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Sidheeq Kappan, a 43-year-old Malayali journalist and Delhi unit secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists was arrested near Mathura toll plaza on October 5th, 2020, with student activists Atikur Rahman and Masood Ahmad, and the cab’s driver, Mohammad Alam. “Kappans’s arrest politicised my children and me” – Raihanath
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