Congress leader Rahul Gandhi extended his support to the family of Siddique Kappan, a journalist from Kerala who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police while on his way to Hathras, saying the scribe deserved full protection and medical support. Gandhi also targeted the Yogi Adityanath government, alleging that both the BJP and the RSS had shown their lack of courage by shooting the messenger.
“I extend my support to the family of Siddique Kappan. He deserves full protection and medical support. RSS-BJP show their lack of courage by shooting the messenger. Stop the crime, not the reportage,” Gandhi wrote on Facebook as he shared a press statement of the Editors’ Guild of India.
In its statement, the press body has demanded that Kappan be given proper medical treatment at the earliest and that he be treated with dignity. The Guild also urged the Supreme Court to urgently take up the pending writ petition and give him a fair trial.
Kappan, arrested on October 5 last year while on the way to Hathras which was home to a young Dalit woman who died after being gang-raped allegedly by four upper-caste men, is currently lodged in Medical College Hospital, Mathura, after he was found positive for COVID-19 on April 21. The journalist has been slapped with the stringent UAPA in connection with an alleged conspiracy to trigger riots over the rape case.
