UP Police Forcefully Entered Journalist’s Home, Labeled Him Terrorist

“Mujhe aaj bhi yaad hai Shah Rukh Khan ki movie Chak De India mein wo Indian hockey team ke captain hote hain aur final match mein India, Pakistan se haar jati hai aur Shah Rukh ko aatankwadi, deshdrohi karar kar diya jata hai, unke padosi unke ghar ke deewar par aatankwadi tak likh dete hain” (I still remember Shah Rukh Khan's movie Chak De India where he is the captain of the Indian hockey team and in the final match when India lost against Pakistan, he was declared a terrorist, an anti-national, his neighbours even wrote terrorist on the walls of his house), a senior journalist, Mohd. Shahid Khan told Newsclick, his voice shaking with emotion as Yogi Adityanath's police in Uttar Pradesh called his entire family as terrorists.

On 14 August, just a day before the 72nd Independence Day of India, when the whole country was getting ready to celebrate, Shahid Khan a native of Gola Bazar, Cantt. Sadar, Lucknow, returned from his morning walk with his nephew Mohammed Imran at around 1 p.m in the afternoon. Uttar Pradesh police, all of a sudden entered forcefully in to his house and asked him to come outside with the entire family, and when they followed the police, they were slapped as terrorists. Shahid Khan had never imagined even once in his career spanning 26 years that he would be declared a terrorist.

Speaking with Newsclick, Shahid Khan said, "Ranjana Sachan, SHO, Cantonment, Lucknow along with a sub-inspector, 3-4 police persons and 3-4 people in civil dress came to my house at 1 p.m. and started knocking my door loudly. When I opened the door, they forcefully asked us to come outside, and in front of our entire neighbourhood, they labelled us as terrorists."

Khan, who works as a bureau chief of Roznama Khabrein, an Urdu daily published from New Delhi, said that when he came outside with the entire family, the police first took a group photograph of his family. The police also took photocopies of several documents like Aadhar card, press card, driving license and the rent slip of their home. 

Shahid further added, "Ranjana Sachan ne sabke samne kaha ki tum aatankwadi ho aur yahan aatankwadi aate jaate hain. Tum to shakal se aatankwadi lagte ho. Aaj subah yahan do aatankwadi aaye the” (In front of everyone, Ranjana Sachan said that we are terrorists and this is where terrorists have been spotted coming and going. You even look like a terrorist. In fact today morning, two terrorists had come here).

Khan went on and added, “After listening to this, I continuously tried to tell them (police) that I am an accredited journalist and there must have been some misunderstanding but the police was not ready to listen to us. Sachan said that she does not believe in any government accredited press cards but during the investigation, a person in civil dress came to Sachan and said sorry in her ears. Then all of them left us without saying anything further."

After this incident, Mohammad Shahid informed his fellow journalists. Later, accredited journalists in Lucknow raised this matter with senior authorities like Principal Secretary of Information, Awanish Awasthi; Home Secretary, Bhagwaan Swaroop; and Additional Director General (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar.  Awanish Awasthi followed up by calling the Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani and asked him about the happenings. He added that Khan is an accredited journalist and such an incident should not have happened. The SSP had replied that it was the result of some misunderstanding and that they were ashamed about this act of the police. 

Later, the police too came to Khan's home and apologised 'verbally' to him and his family. But even then Ranjana Sachan continued to pretend that nothing had happened and did not say sorry till a large crowd of journalists appeared at the house. However, the police are yet to issue a written apology on the same. 

Khan told that if he would not have been a journalist, things could have gone in any way. There was a possibility that the police would have held a press meet the next day declaring the arrest of a terrorist in Lucknow.

Newsclick also approached SHO Ranjana Sachan regarding this matter, however, her number was not reachable. According to media reports Sachan had faced backlash last year due to her connection in the case of sand-mafia.  

Recently, a movie Mulk directed by Anubhav Sinha has been at the centre of attraction. Reality is not whatever you have watched in the movie. The reality is that a Muslim man without any reason can be arrested or harassed and police or media will brand him as a terrorist. If it could happen with a senior journalist, it should not be difficult to imagine the plight of a common Muslim.