Rupesh Singh : The Journalist jailed for reporting the Uncomfortable truth.
Rupesh Singh : The Journalist jailed for reporting the Uncomfortable truth.
A week before India got her first tribal President, Rupesh Singh was arrested under terror laws for his reportage on the atrocities on Tribals and Adivasis.
Another day, Another journalist incarcerated on terror charges for exposing the state machinery , for being the voice of the marginalised. In a chilling pattern, Rupesh Singh, Siddique Kappan, Fahad Shah continue to languish in our jails for doing their jobs with integrity, without fear or favour, holding the line and bearing witness.
Rana Ayyub
Rupesh Singh after his arrest
On July 31, six guests gathered in a dimly lit room where the light emanating from the candles on a colourful birthday cake tried to brighten up the sombre mood of the room. Those present where celebrating the fifth birthday of Aviral Agrim, the son of journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh who was arrested by the Jharkhand Police mid last month.
From his wife, Ipsa Shatakshi`s face, it was apparent that while the occasion called for celebration, her joy was muted due to her husband`s recent arrest.
Ipsa Shatakshi teaches in a private school. "Earlier this year, Rupesh had said we would have a grand celebration for Agrim's 5th birthday. But Agrim has had to pay the price for being the son of a ‘people's journalist’ who questioned the powerful and engaged in grass-root journalism. The first time Rupesh was arrested, Agrim was just two years old, and today, when Agrim has turned five, Rupesh has yet again been incarcerated. Since he had promised Agrim, we are celebrating it but there is a feeling of emptiness without him”.
A freelance journalist and a social worker, Rupesh has his own YouTube channel where he posts his stories and is also active on social media, tweeting on many issues and tagging Chief Minister and higher officials in those tweets. https://youtube.com/channel/UC2ZeFVj3x49JLljHmFfQ9Tw
Rupesh graduated from 'Tilka Manjhi University' in 2006. He then pursued a Master's degree in 'Gandhian Thought'. During this period, he actively participated in students movement by becoming a part of the 'All India Students Association”. After completing his education, Rupesh went to Delhi where he worked in an American Bank for several years and later worked as a manager in an Event Management company belonging to his friends. While working with the company, he became a member of the State committee of the Marxist–Leninist party but could not remain active in politics due to his ideological disagreements with party colleagues.
Rupesh Singh's native place is Bhagalpur, however as his sister was married in Ramgarh, Jharkhand, he visited Ramgarh frequently. While he left politics, Rupesh started researching on the problems faced by the tribals of Ramgarh as well as of the nearby districts in Jharkhand. It was in 2014 when Rupesh began highlighting their issues and raising their concerns through his journalism. He also became a part of the local movements of the tribals related to their land.
Rupesh Singh's wife Ipsa Shatakshi is the daughter of a Ramgarh-based freelance journalist Vishad Kumar. Shatakshi first met Rupesh in Ramgarh in 2015 and later married him in March of 2016 after which they settled in Ramgarh.
Police of Seraikela Kharsawan district arrested Rupesh Singh on the 17 of July 2022 at 1.40 pm from his residence in Ramgarh. According to Ipsa Shatakshi, at 5 am on Sunday morning, police arrived at their house in a convoy of six vehicles with a search warrant. She says they made it look like her husband was a dreaded terrorist “The Police assured us they would complete the search within half an hour. But they continued the search until noon. It was then they showed us an arrest warrant and arrested Rupesh."
Jharkhand police raiding the house of Rupesh Singh
According to the papers related to Rupesh's arrest, 37 years old Rupesh was arrested in the same case in which Naxalite Prashant Bose and his wife Sheela Marandi where arrested on November 12 of 2021. A case was registered against Rupesh under sections 420/467/468/471 of IPC, 17 CLA Act, and 10/13 UAPA Act.
37 year old Ipsa Shatakshi said, "The police knocked at our door at five in the morning. They showed me the search warrant and seeing that I was worried they assured nothing would happen. “Rupesh told the police that we will cooperate. After this, the police started searching every corner of the house. From the containers of pulses kept in the kitchen to every possible belonging in the house. They took Rupesh's new laptop and since it was recently bought, they asked for the old one as well. I told them the old laptop was confiscated by the police during Rupesh's first arrest in 2019, which has since not been returned. Yet, they kept searching for the old laptop. My sister, an LLB student happened to be in our house. When the police caught sight of her laptop, they brazenly confiscated it too”
According to the Police, the list of seized items from Rupesh Singh’s house are two laptops, two mobile phones, a bed-sheet, retail invoice of a car registered in the name of his wife Ipsa Shatakshi, document of a two-wheeler and a notebook. Shatakshi said, "The police also confiscated the iPhone, which was bought from people's donations after the Pegasus espionage scandal came to light and a petition was filed in the Supreme Court. Similarly, all documents related to the purchase of the car bought by my own savings were also confiscated."
Ipsa Shatakshi further said, "Police confiscated items like Rupesh's mobile phone which was linked to his bank account and my hard disk which contained photographs and videos of the family. The police also wanted to confiscate my mobile phone but after my persistent request they let me keep it.”
“The policeman also confiscated a worn-out bed sheet”, she alleges. “The Policeman said to me, ‘Madam, I like this bed-sheet and we are taking it’. What did the policeman see in that old colorful bed-sheet with a floral design that they confiscated it too?" asks an agitated Shatakshi.
Rupesh with wife Ipsa and son Agrim
When the Kandra police station in charge of Seraikela, Rajendra Prasad was contacted, in connection with the arrest of Rupesh, he made serious allegations against the journalist “When a big Naxalite named Prashant was arrested, Rupesh's name cropped up during the investigations. It was revealed that Rupesh looked after data related to financial transactions of Prashant Bose. He was also found to be the editor of the Naxalite magazine, ‘Laal Chingari (Red Spark)'.” He further adds, “A warrant was issued by the court three-four months ago regarding these matters whereby we conducted a thorough investigation which revealed that Rupesh looked after Prashant's business. This led to Rupesh`s arrest”.
Responding to questions related to findings of their investigation on the basis of which they took Rupesh into custody, the Kandra police station in-charge Rajendra Prasad said. “DSP P.K. Vats is conducting the inquiry and it would be better if you ask him about the investigation.” When the DSP was contacted he refused to share any information related to the investigation.
On the allegations leveled against her husband by the police, his wife Shatakshi said, "I have never heard the name of any magazine called ‘Laal Chingari (Red Spark)’. He used to write for independent publications like The Wire, Jan Chowk, and MediaVigil. What is their motive behind these allegations? The last time they arrested him, they alleged that he used to write for 'Lal Mati (Red Soil)' and leveled many other serious charges. He was slapped with the draconian UAPA but was eventually released from jail. Whatever allegations are being leveled now are baseless and like the last time he will be proved innocent soon. Rupesh is being punished for reporting relentlessly on issues related to the tribals and the underprivileged. Is it a crime to raise their issues?”
When I point out to Shatakshi that India has recently got her first tribal President, she calls it hypocrisy “Making a tribal president is just a hoax. Because after making someone the President from the Muslim or Dalit community, venom is spewed against the Muslim and Dalit community, similarly, a journalist who talks about the rights of tribals, is sent to jail. Therefore, I believe that only the politics of appeasement and tokenism is being done by making a woman of the tribal community the President.”
Shatakshi shared that Rupesh had recently written an article about the ongoing pollution in Giridih in Jharkhand due the unplanned implosion of factories and she suspects his arrest on the 17th of July was in relation to that article.
Rupesh Singh has been doing ground reporting for 'Jan Chowk' since 2018. Mahendra Mishra, the editor of 'Jan Chowk' explained that journalists reporting on mining are often targeted by cops at the behest of corporate powers “Whoever goes to the ground and reports, exposing their truth, will be the target of their power, as happened with Rupesh,” says Mahendra.
Rupesh is the first journalist arrested from the state. Ironically, the opposition in the state, the BJP that has been on a spree of silencing dissent all over the country wants a fair inquiry in the case.
BJP spokesperson from Jharkhand, Praful Shahdev said that, "There should be a fair inquiry into Rupesh's case. The matter is subjuduice, so its better for us to make no comments now. By the way, if I had been asked within 24 hours after Rupesh's arrest, I would have obtained information from my local unit, since the matter is now in the court, so all I can say is that there should be a fair inquiry into this matter."
The first arrest took place in 2019
Rupesh Singh was first arrested in 2019. A case under UAPA was registered against him. Back then, the police could not file the charge sheet within the stipulated time and after a few months in jail, Rupesh was granted bail. Post his release, Rupesh wrote a book highlighting the conditions and issues faced by prisoners in jail and their exploitation titled ‘Quaidkhane ka Aina’.
It was his ground report on a poor tribal called Motilal Baske, who was killed in an extra judicial murder that got him labeled a Maoist sympathizer and arrested back then. Baske, a poor tribal was killed in an encounter by the Jharkhand Police who had called him a ‘ruthless Maoist’. The intrepid Singh raised questions on the encounter in his article which was published in The Wire. This was the article, according to his wife that led to his first arrest. (http://thewirehindi.com/11235/alleged-fake-encounter-of-motilal-baske-by-jharkhand-police-in-giridih-district/
In the article published in The Wire, Rupesh insinuated about the extra judicial murder of an innocent who was labeled a terrorist, the article was titled ‘Was the man killed in the encounter really a ruthless Maoist?’
His fears and apprehensions where not unfounded. It was later revealed that the administration, that praised itself and celebrated the murder of an alleged “ruthless Maoist” was in fact a Doli (palanquin) worker who would carry pilgrims on a palanquin on his shoulders.
Referring to the above story, Shatakshi shared, "Rupesh had raised questions on the murder of Motilal Baske and allegations that he was a dreaded Maoist. How could a person who got a house under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (Housing scheme), who had a bank account, who was a member of the team that welcomed the then Governor of Jharkhand, Dr. Dropadi Murmu during 'Buru Baha' festival in Madhuban village, possibly be a terrorist ? These are the truths Rupesh wanted to highlight in the absence of any coverage by mainstream media”
Rupesh in the list of forty journalists spied by Pegasus spyware
Rupesh Kumar Singh is the only scribe from Jharkhand, among the forty journalists whose mobile phone was hacked by the Pegasus spyware. After the Pegasus spyware scandal broke out, Rupesh Kumar Singh too filed a petition against it in the Supreme Court. Regarding the scandal, Ipsa Shatakshi shared, "Last year a journalist from The Wire called to enquire if Rupesh and I used these mobile phone numbers to which I replied in the affirmative. We were later informed by The Wire that our phones were hacked and we were being spied upon since July of 2017. Rupesh had written about Motilal Baske's encounter killing in June 2017 and it is post the investigation that our phones were spied upon.”
CPI-ML's Bagodar MLA Vinod Kumar Singh, while speaking about the arrest of journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh in the Jharkhand assembly, on August 3 2022, demanded his release and a high-level inquiry of his arrest. He said, "Rupesh has been kept in the jail cell like criminals. I demand a high level inquiry and his release."
Many in the journalism fraternity believe that Rupesh might have to stay behind bars for longer as he does not share the profile of Delhi based journalists or the backing of mainstream journalism organisations. The silence of the mainstream press over his arrest proves that the allegations are true. Ipsa tells me she cannot wait for Rupesh to be a free man and return to telling stories of those whose ‘mann ki baat’ needs to be heard louder.
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