Kunal Shankar, Frontline magazine’s Telangana and Andhra Pradesh correspondent, was detained by the police for “trespass” into the University of Hyderabad and was let off subsequently.
A criminal case was registered against him by the Gachibowli police. Mr. Shankar was in the UoH with regard to the first death anniversary of research scholar Rohith Vemular last year.
Questioned
Mr. Shankar was picked up and questioned for about an hour.
A written complaint was made to the police against him of trespassing, said Prof. Vipin Srivastava, Pro Vice-Chancellor.
A copy of the First Information Report (FIR) was not given to Mr. Shankar, he said. Asked about this, Madhapur Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vishwa Prasad said it would be provided to the correspondent if he moved a written application to the police, since he was the accused. “A case was registered for trespass and violating the High Court order (barring outsider entry),” he added
Mr. Srivastava said a complaint was given of the presence of Mr. Shankar and two others on the campus. “Nobody was taking responsibility for his (Mr. Shankar) entry,” he added.
Last year, the UoH administration had given the Press Council of India (PCI) an assurance that it would allow reporters to enter the campus after appointing a nodal officer and would give them a pass, said K. Amarnath, member of the PCI. He was writing to the body again seeking initiation of action suo motu against the UoH administration for not doing so and writing to the police about Mr. Shankar’s entry, he added.
“They cannot just detain a reporter for doing his job. If I am a journalist and am barred from entering, I will devise ways to enter the campus to get to my sources. As an agent of the press, we report to people,” Mr. Amarnath told The Hindu . He further said that an Assistant Registrar of the UoH had assured the PCI that it would allow reporters to enter the campus.
Asked about this, Prof. Srivastava acknowledged that the UoH administration had given the assurance to the PCI last year. “We have been allowing the press to enter the campus for covering academic events. In this case, since we did not give permission to conduct any programme as there was no application, what was the press going to do (inside)?” he asked.
Prof. Srivastava said if the administration let the press in, others would also ask to be let in.
