'Rejaz jailed for speaking up for oppressed': Siddique Kappan at Kochi solidarity meet
On Saturday, September 13, the Rejaz Solidarity Forum organised a protest gathering in Kochi against the incarceration of journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek in a Nagpur jail. Rejaz was arrested in May this year and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He has been in jail ever since. The 26-year-old independent journalist was arrested over a social media post criticising Operation Sindoor. The gathering was organised on the death anniversary of Jatin Das, a freedom fighter and revolutionary who died in a Lahore jail after observing a 63-day hunger strike against the inhumane treatment of political prisoners. Inaugurating the gathering, advocate Pramod Puzhangara said, “Like Jatin Das, hundreds are imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions even today. This exposes the hollowness of our democracy.” He added, “Bail is the rule and jail should be the exception. But in UAPA cases, jail is the rule, and bail is impossible.” Journalist Siddique Kappan attended the protest gathering in solidarity with Rejaz and delivered the keynote address. Siddique was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in October 2020 when he was on his way to cover the Hathras rape case and was booked under provisions of the UAPA by the Uttar Pradesh government. He recounted his first encounter with Rejaz. “I met Rejaz in the initial days after I reached Kerala after receiving bail. He was one of the few journalists who visited me back then. It was a time when many were scared of expressing solidarity with me,” he said, addressing the gathering in Kochi. “The biggest crime that Rejaz committed is that he raised his voice for the marginalised people—those across south India, for Dalits, victims of Islamophobia and other oppressions, and against the genocide in Palestine,” Siddique added. Siddique also spoke about a fake news he came across that prompted him to attend the protest gathering. “I saw a news item that said Rejaz had been arrested with guns in his possession. Even the chargesheet against me had several such absurdities. One of the charges against me was that they found a drawing of an AK 47 rifle in my room. Another allegation in the chargesheet said that I tried to mobilise crowds outside AAIMS in Delhi when SAR Geelani was ‘hanged to death’. The people who wrote the chargesheet did not even bother to check how Geelani had died—he passed away due to a heart attack. Several such lies that question our common sense have been used over the past decade,” Siddique said. Democratic Students Association worker Niharika said that the jails in the country are not for correction, but for withholding and silencing the people capable of changing the political status quo.She also observed how Rejaz is doubly attacked by the government for both his communist politics and for his Muslim identity. The gathering, which was attended by around 40 persons, was held at the Vanchi Square in Ernakulam.
ON Saturday, September 13, the Rejaz Solidarity Forum organised a protest gathering in Kochi against the incarceration of journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek in a Nagpur jail.
Rejaz was arrested in May this year and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He has been in jail ever since. The 26-year-old independent journalist was arrested over a social media post criticising Operation Sindoor.
The gathering was organised on the death anniversary of Jatin Das, a freedom fighter and revolutionary who died in a Lahore jail after observing a 63-day hunger strike against the inhumane treatment of political prisoners.
Inaugurating the gathering, advocate Pramod Puzhangara said, “Like Jatin Das, hundreds are imprisoned for their political beliefs and actions even today. This exposes the hollowness of our democracy.”
He added, “Bail is the rule and jail should be the exception. But in UAPA cases, jail is the rule, and bail is impossible.”
Journalist Siddique Kappan attended the protest gathering in solidarity with Rejaz and delivered the keynote address. Siddique was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in October 2020 when he was on his way to cover the Hathras rape case and was booked under provisions of the UAPA by the Uttar Pradesh government.
He recounted his first encounter with Rejaz. “I met Rejaz in the initial days after I reached Kerala after receiving bail. He was one of the few journalists who visited me back then. It was a time when many were scared of expressing solidarity with me,” he said, addressing the gathering in Kochi.
“The biggest crime that Rejaz committed is that he raised his voice for the marginalised people—those across south India, for Dalits, victims of Islamophobia and other oppressions, and against the genocide in Palestine,” Siddique added.
Siddique also spoke about a fake news he came across that prompted him to attend the protest gathering.
“I saw a news item that said Rejaz had been arrested with guns in his possession. Even the chargesheet against me had several such absurdities. One of the charges against me was that they found a drawing of an AK 47 rifle in my room. Another allegation in the chargesheet said that I tried to mobilise crowds outside AAIMS in Delhi when SAR Geelani was ‘hanged to death’. The people who wrote the chargesheet did not even bother to check how Geelani had died—he passed away due to a heart attack. Several such lies that question our common sense have been used over the past decade,” Siddique said.
Democratic Students Association worker Niharika said that the jails in the country are not for correction, but for withholding and silencing the people capable of changing the political status quo.
She also observed how Rejaz is doubly attacked by the government for both his communist politics and for his Muslim identity.
The gathering, which was attended by around 40 persons, was held at the Vanchi Square in Ernakulam.
