December 26, 2018:

Objections to the detention of Manipur journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem under the National Security Act (NSA) have reached the high court of Manipur as well as the UN this week, but the court has failed to provide timely relief.

In response to a Dec 19 petition by the journalist challenging the one-year detention order, the high court has given time till Feb 1 to Central and the state govt, as well as the Imphal West district magistrate, to file counter-affidavits on the issue.

In giving the respondents nearly a month-and-a-half to respond to the petition, the court has failed to give the jailed journalist immediate relief. Wangkhem's wife Ranjita Elangbam told The Wire, 'The date of hearing is tentatively set for Feb 4'.

Since the board - set up under Section 9 of the NSA to look into the allegation brought by the state government against the journalist - pronounced the maximum term of 12 months under the Act on Dec 13, Elangbam has met her husband twice.

'Once was when he was brought from Sajiwa jail (on the outskirts of Imphal) to JNIMS hospital in the city on December 22 as he had some medical issues. And the other time was a day before it,' she said.

Responding to queries of journalists at the government-run hospital in Imphal, Wangkhem, while being taken to the prison van, said, 'My voice is very vocal, so the govt. is trying to silence me, trying to gag my voice so that I can't speak against it. But I want to say that this is a democratic country and we have every right to speak out. Why it is going after me is because in the run-up to the 2019 general elections, I might be speaking against them in a louder voice. But I will fight till I am released. Every one, wake up, don't be afraid, join me in it - that's my call to the people of Manipur.'

In another development, the well-known civil society organisation of the state, Human Rights Alert has written to David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, to issue 'an urgent appeal' opposing Wangkhem's detention under the draconian law and 'to check further erosion of the space occupied by civil society'.

Babloo Loitongbam, executive director at HRA, personally briefed Kaye on the issue on the sidelines of a three-day symposium in Bangkok earlier this week before submitting him the letter detailing Wangkhem's case.

The journalist was arrested under NSA on November 26 for a video he uploaded on social media in which he severely criticised the N. Biren Singh government for comparing the fight of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi against the British with that of Manipur's freedom movement.

The media outrage over the controversy has spread across the country. While the Indian Journalist Union (IJU) issued a statement on December 3 condemning the government's move and demanded Wangkhem's immediate release from jail, the Press Council of India took suo motu cognisance of the arrest and sought a statement on it from the state Govt.

On Dec 6, South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN) wrote to the chief minister expressing concern. SAMDEN not only demanded his immediate release but also sought a clarification on 'how his conduct and words, though seem inappropriate, threaten national security.'

The Govt.'s decision to detain the journalist under NSA has come as a surprise to many. A local court, hearing a charge of sedition brought against Wangkhem on Nov 25 for the same video, released him on bail stating that it was not seditious in nature. Wangkhem was arrested on Nov 21 under various sections of the IPC, including Section 124A.

Less than 24 hours after he was released on court's order, he was picked up by local police and later charged under the NSA. The journalist was picked up last August as well for criticizing the govt., following which Brojendra Ningombam, the editor of his employer, ISTV, had to apologize to the CM for his release. This time around, ISTV sacked Wangkhem, who worked at the news channel as an anchor-researcher.

Since Ningombam is also the nominated president of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU), the outfit initially remained silent on the issue. Ningombam also wrote a letter to the state chapter of IJU requesting it not to issue any more statement on the arrest. He threatened, 'If the IJU acts similarly again, we may be compelled to review our affiliation to the IJU as member.'

The letter, leaked to the press, also mentioned that the state unit of the Editors Guild of India 'extends its full solidarity to the stand taken by AMWJU'. The AMWJU president's action was met with widespread criticism in the state. On December 25, following a joint general body meeting of both AMWJU and Editors Guild of Manipur at the Manipur Press Club, the journalist bodies, however, condemned the government's actions.

Laba Yambem, a veteran journalist of the state and a member of AMWJU, said in a Facebook post after the meeting, 'The Kishorechandra episode has put all the journalistic fraternity of the state in shame and is also having a reflection on the state as well as the country. Admitted that Kishorechandra is a maverick in nature but he is still one of ours and can't be touched by the state.'

In an editorial on the issue on Dec 26, Pradip Phanjoubam, the editor of Imphal Free Press, wrote:

'In the wake of the present controversy, let this be re-emphasized then, the issue before us is not so much Kishorechandra anymore but of vindictive and vengeful misuse of power by those in power.'

On Dec 24, speaking to ANI about Wangkhem's arrest, the chief minister said, 'In this case, I can tolerate criticism but not the humiliation of my leaders; he was abusing as well as humiliating national heroes like Rani of Jhansi and PM Modi, which is totally beyond freedom of speech.'

Wangkhem had called Singh a puppet of Modi and severely criticized the RSS/BJP too. Singh said, 'It is a democratic country; we have right to criticise but we shouldn't forget that there are also some restrictions justified or not, that will be the work of the court.'

Meanwhile, Wangkhem's wife, who works as a nurse in a local hospital, said she has returned to work. 'I am hopeful of justice. But I have two minor kids, who are asking for their father. I can't tell them that their father is in jail for exercising his right to express his anger at a decision of a democratically elected government,' she said.

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