Citizens' Statement on the arrest of Journalist Kazmi

Citizens' Statement on the arrest of Journalist Kazmi

The undersigned condemn the arrest of senior journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi by the Delhi Police Special Cell in connection with the attack on Israeli diplomat last month. Mr. Kazmi’s arrest is reminiscent of the arrest and false allegations against another veteran journalist, Iftikhar Gilani, several years ago. We fear that Mr. Kazmi may be made a scapegoat in order to please an international lobby. It is no secret that Israel held Iran culpable within minutes of the attack, and there has been immense pressure on India to sever its ties with Iran—both from Israel and US (to the extent that US displayed its obvious unhappiness to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai over the fact that India was not heeding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US on Iran.) 

Israel also pressured India to support a resolution condemning “Iranian terrorism” in the UN Security Council. While the Indian government has so far held out against the pressure, even refusing to implicate Iran in the attack, a recent report in Jerusalem Post stated that, “Israel provided the Indian authorities with information on two suspects in the attack connected with Iran”  Has Mr. Kazmi been picked up upon tips provided by Israeli agencies? How credible can these inputs be, given Israel’s clear intent to condemn and implicate Iran as the source of the attack? We are anxious that the Persian-knowing Mr. Kazmi, a journalist with the Iranian News agency, IRNA, who would obviously be in regular touch with his sources and employers in Iran and the Iranian embassy, is being targeted precisely because of these reasons.  

Mr. Kazmi is well respected and known to the journalist fraternity for his professional integrity. We demand that he be immediately released on bail and the due process of law followed.

1.      Aamir Idrisi, President, Association of Muslim Professionals

2.      Abdul Daiyan, social activist, Bihar

3.      Abu Zafar Adil Azmi, Special Correspondent, Afkar-e-Milli

4.      Achin Vanaik, writer, activist

5.      Afroz Alam Sahil, Editor, Beyondheadlines

6.      Ajit Sahi, Senior Journalist, Delhi

7.      Anuradha Bhasin, Editor, Kashmir Times 

8.      Arundhati Roy, Writer and Activist

9.      Asad Zaidi

10.  Azam Khan, social activist, Hyderabad

11.  Bhavna Sharma, social activists, Anhad

12.  Bobby Kunhu

13.  Dilip Khan, Journalist

14.  Dr Anand Pradhan

15.  Dr. Hilal Ahmed, Associate Fellow, CSDS

16.  Dr. Saroj Giri, University of Delhi

17.  Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor, the Milli Gazette

18.  Farah Naqvi, Writer & Activist, Delhi

19.  Fr Cedric Prakash, Human Rights Activist

20.  Gauhar Iqbal, Palestine Foundation  

21.  Hanif Lakdawala, social activist, Gujarat

22.  Harsh Kapoor, SACW.net 

23.  Hilal Ahmed

24.  Imran Khan, social activist, Anhad

25.  Jawed Naqvi, Senior Journalist 

26.  John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council

27.  Kamayani Bali Mahabal

28.  Khadeeja Arif, BBC News

29.  Khurshid Anwar

30.  KN Panikkar, Historian

31.  Kundan Pandey, Journalist 

32.  Madhuresh Kumar

33.  Mahesh Bhatt, Filmmaker

34.  Mahtab Alam, Civil Rights Activist and Freelance Journalist

35.  Manisha Sethi, Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association 

36.  Mansi Sharma, Social Activist

37.  Md. Ali, Twocircles.Net

38.  Mukul Dube

39.  Mukul Kesavan, writer and historian

40.  Mumtaz Alam Falahi, Editor, Twocircles.Net

41.  Nandita Das, film actress

42.  Navaid Hamid, Member, National Integration Council

43.  Neshat Quaiser, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

44.  Panini Anand, Editor, Pratirodh

45.  Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, JNU

46.  Prof. Anwar Alam, Center for West Asian Studies, Jamia 

47.  Prof. Apoorvanand, Delhi University 

48.  Prof. Jairus Banaji, Historian

49.  Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, JNU

50.  Prof. Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, University of Delhi

51.  Prof. Shohini Ghosh, MCRC, Jamia

52.  Ram Puniyani, social activist, writer

53.  Sadiq Naqvi, Journalist 

54.  Sanjay Kak, Filmmaker

55.  Sanjay Sharma, social activist, Anhad

56.  Satya Sivaraman, journalist

57.  Seema Mustafa, Senior Journalist   

58.  Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, ANHAD

59.  Shafi Mahajir ,advocate Hyderabad

60.  Sharmila Tagore, Actor

61.  Shivam Vij

62.  Sohail Hashmi, filmmaker, writer

63.  Soheb Niazi

64.  Sucheta Dey, President, JNU Student Union

65.  Sukumar Muralidharan, journalist

66.  Tanveer Hussain, activist, Kashmir

67.  Vijayan MJ

68.  Vivan Sundaram, artist

69.  Waliullah Laskar, Activist 

70.  Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, editor, Siasat

71.  Zoobi Amir, Film Maker Delhi