NEW DELHI: The Caravan magazine, India’s leading platform for investigative journalism, has contested a government order to take down its story on alleged torture and death of civilians at the hands of the army in Jammu, its editor said on Tuesday.

The Caravan article, now apparently taken down, pertains to the alleged torture and deaths of villagers in Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of the army. The article carried pictures of victims’ families showing stacks of currency notes they were reportedly given by the army as compensation.

The deaths of three Kashmir civilians after they were picked up by the Indian army in the wake of a deadly militant attack in the disputed Himalayan region caused anger among people and led to calls for an investigation into alleged custodial killings.

According to the families, the three men – Mohammad Showkat, 22, Safeer Hussain, 45, and Shabir Ahmad, 32 —were detained by the army at the hilly Topa Pir village in Poonch district on Christmas eve last year, a day after military vehicles were ambushed and four Indian army soldiers were killed near the village.

The Caravan article pertains to the alleged torture and deaths of villagers in India-held Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of the army

“This is to inform readers we have received an order from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under Section 69A of the IT Act, directing us to take down this story in 24 hrs…” the magazine tweeted.

Under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the government can block access to information that poses threat to sovereignty, security and integrity of India, spoils friendly relations with other countries or public order, among others.

The Caravan isn’t the first news portal to have received takedown orders. Last year, Kashmir Walla’s website and social media handles were blocked under the IT Act.

The Caravan first received a notice from the I&B ministry on February 9 and replied to it two days later. Unsatisfied with the reply, an inter-departmental committee, formed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with five members, called a Zoom meeting — which was attended by a representative from the magazine in the afternoon of February 11. The same evening, the takedown notice was issued.

The Wire and the Newslaundry portals have questioned the action against Caravan.

Executive editor Hartosh Singh Bal refused to share the contents of the notice due to its “absurd confidentiality” clause.

“The IT ministry (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology or Meity) has declared the notice ‘confidential’. This confidentiality is absurd… Such proceedings should be transparent. Why are we afraid to reveal the reason for which we need to take the article down? We are supposedly the ones who have to defend ourselves but they (government) are the ones who are concealing facts,” he told Newslaundry.

Bal asserted that the article “meets every journalistic standard”.

The Wire has also hosted a portion of the report on its website.

The Caravan gave 48 hours to the army to reply to its questionnaire. “Everything is fact-based. Forty-eight hours were given to the army for the reply. If the army does not choose to reply, that’s their concern. We reached out to everyone who was affected and named in the story. Everything is factually researched. It is based on the conversation with the victims and everyone who was involved in the story. Every due care was taken,” said Bal.

According to the piece, the reporter had reached out to “Kashmir’s director general of police and the SPs of Poonch and Rajouri” who did not respond to a detailed questionnaire. “Neither did the deputy commissioners of these two districts. The public relations officers of the army and ministry of defence did not respond to questions either. The online version of this story will be updated if they do,” it read.

It’s not clear who has filed a complaint against The Caravan. When asked if the army was the complainant, its spokesperson said: “Please speak with the I&B ministry.”

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs did not reply to the question.

Newslaundry also sent a questionnaire to the I&B ministry and the IT ministry, asking them the reason for the notice. The copy will be updated if the two ministries reply.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2024