Kerala CM Writes to Adityanath Seeking Humane Treatment For Journalist Siddique Kappan Who Is ‘Chained To His Bed’ In Hospital

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday wrote to his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Adityanath asking him to take measures to provide expert treatment facilities and humane treatment for journalist Siddique Kappan, who has been in prison since October for trying to report on the Hathras gangrape case.

Kappan has been infected with coronavirus in the Uttar Pradesh prison.

This is the first time since Kappan was arrested in October 2020, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has intervened in the matter.

The developments comes after Kappan’s wife Raihana Siddique and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) approached the Supreme Court, revealing the inhumane conditions under which the journalist is being treated at Mathura Hospital in Uttar Pradesh.

A petition filed by Kappan’s lawyer Advocate Will Mathews says, “the wife of Siddique Kappan, came to know that Kappan is chained like an animal to a cot of the Medical College Hospital, Mathura, without mobility, and he neither could take food, nor could go to the toilet for the last more than 4 days, and is very critical”.

The petition says, “If immediate corrective steps are not taken, it will result in his untimely death.” The plea was titled as “Most urgent/life in danger/pending Habeas Corpus matter.”

“It has come to my attention that Siddique Kappan, a journalist from Kerala, presently in custody under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, is facing severe health problems,” CM Pinarayi wrote in the letter. “It is reported that he is having diabetes and heart ailments. After getting COVID-19, he has been admitted to KVM Hospital, Mathura. He is reportedly being kept chained to his bed even when his health condition is precarious. I request your good self to intervene in the matter so that humane treatment is accorded to Kappan,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan also added that expert facilities should be ensured to Kappan and that shifting him to a super-speciality hospital, where modern life-saving facilities are ensured, should be seriously considered. “People in general, and the media fraternity in particular, are anxious to know about his predicament and humans rights and are very much concerned about his plight. I request you to make sure that he gets all medical facilities,” Pinarayi Vijayan added in the letter to Adityanath.

Kappan’s wife Raihana said, “He called me today from somebody’s phone. He told me that the hospital authorities are not allowing him to go to the toilet. He is handcuffed to the bed and is not allowed to move. He is urinating in a plastic bottle. He is a human being. He has to go to the toilet too, right,” The Week quoted her saying.

In a discussion organised by the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) on Saturday in remembrance of political prisoners, she shared her husband’s ordeal of being subjected to torture and humiliation. She said that he has been repeatedly asked if he has any relations with Rahul Gandhi and Dr Zakir Naik, and was even beaten up for accepting that he consumes beef.

She said, “Kappan has been tested positive for COVID this week, and his health is continuously deteriorating.”

Kappan is languishing in jail since 5 October 2020, along with three Muslim youths including a cab driver, while he was on his way to report on the gang rape and death of a Dalit woman by upper-caste Hindu men, in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.

Two weeks ago, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a 5,000-page charge sheet against Kappan, and other Muslim youths who were arrested along with him.

Along with UAPA, they are slapped with IT Act and other serious charges for alleged conspiracy for inciting communal clashes.

Kappan is a freelance journalist who has been extensively covering politics, crime, and current affairs for several Kerala based news outlets including Azhimukham, Thejas Daily and Thalsamayam Midday Daily. He is also the secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.

Many international media unions, opposition leaders, and human rights organizations have been constantly raising concerns against the arrest of Kappan and have demanded his immediate release.