WEB DESK: Rejaz M. Sheeba Sydeek, a journalist primarily reporting on human rights issues in India’s southern states, was arrested on May 7 at a hotel in Nagpur, Maharashtra, as reported by The Wire.
The arrest took place after the 26-year-old published social media posts criticising India’s attacks on six Pakistan sites as part of Operation Sindoor. Sydeek reports for Kerala-based news platform Maktoob and Counter Currents. A post on Facebook published Wednesday stated “those who support Operation Sindhoor by the Indian state don’t condemn Operation Kagaar by the same state—because Indians only seem to have a problem when the alleged attackers are Pakistan, not when the Indian state attacks its own citizens, especially Adivasis.”
Another now-deleted Instagram post reportedly contained a photo of a child with the caption: “This is a child!!! Targeting kids is serving justice??? Indian Army Murdabad!!!”.
Rejaz is also accused of being a member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) organisatoin.
After intelligence inputs placed Rejaz at a hotel in Nagpur, police raided his room, detaining him as well as a 24-year woman from Bihar. It is not clear whether she had also been arrested.
Among Rejaz’s belongings seized from his hotel were three books and a T-shirt he wore in a social media post in which he was holding two guns. The police thus charged him with Section 149 of the BNSS, colecting arms witht he intention of waging war against the government, for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. He is also charged with other sections relating to “provation with intent to cause riot” and “statmenets conducing to public mischief”.
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Prior arrests
Rejaz has also been detained and arrested multiple times before. An earlier case was filed on April 29, for participating in a pro-Kashmir protest in Kocchi, regarding how the demolition of houses allegedly belonging to those inovlved in the Pahalgam attack violated a Supreme Court judgement.
Rejaz was also detained when he travlled to Kodagu to report on the death of a labourer from the Paniya Yerava Adivasi community.
In 2023, Rejaz was arrested for exposing the police’s anti-muslim sentiments while investigating the Kalamassery blast case.
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