India's police actions against journalists spark outrage

Journalists in India are outraged after two of their colleagues were arrested for spreading communal disharmony by covering violent attacks on Muslims by Hindu activists in the state of Tripura earlier this month.

Police action and charges against journalists are viewed by many journalists as an attempt by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party to silence the media.

Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha were reporting from Tripura, a BJP-ruled state, for the Mumbai-based digital news channel HW News Network.

Sakunia tweeted about the vandalism of a mosque while working. Sakunia and her colleague were arrested the next day for inciting communal violence via social media.

The two journalists were granted bail the following day.

According to Free Speech Collective [FSC], a media rights group, over 60 journalists were arrested, detained, interrogated, and issued show-cause notices for their professional work last year in India.

According to Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index, India's ranking has declined in recent years. The country ranked 142nd among 180 countries this year.

Journalists working in India face one of the world's most dangerous environments, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders.

* This article contained information that was sourced from VOA.