Multilingual #Journalist | 🖋️on Politics, Law, Literature, Media & Human Rights | Founder, Urdu Book Club | #RedInk Awardee
Dehli, from #Supaul, Bihar
Joined November 2008
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Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Sharjeel Imam is not a solitary case. This tradition of extremist labelling and moral slandering of any muslim voice that refuses to sing the holy songs of liberalism is an old one. This tradition shall continue perpetually, as it is not considered a problem in the first place.
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Journalists condemn the attack on media persons covering the CJP protests on October 10, calling for accountability and respect for press freedom.
“Attacks on journalists carrying out their professional duties are unacceptable and undermine the fundamental right of the media to report freely and fearlessly.”
An exhaustive list of accounts from journalists who were either detained or assaulted by the Delhi Police, or had their equipment damaged by them. There are around 30 accounts in total, with direct quotes from almost all of them.
Via @dhanyarajendran
thenewsminute.com/news/over-…
🔊Public Meeting against the recent arbitrary detention and harassment of journalists covering the protests.
🗓️Tuesday, 13 October, 3 PM
📌 Press Club of India, Delhi
#JournalismIsNotACrime
Joint statement by Press Club of India, IWPC, DUJ and Kerala Union of Working Journalists against the arbitrary detention, harassment and seizure of equipment of journalists covering the protests in Delhi today (10th October 2026). #JournalismIsNotACrime #JantarMantar
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Over the past few days, pre-printed Form 7 applications objecting to the inclusion of Muslim electors have surfaced in Telangana in three Assembly constituencies.
As concerns about bulk deletions increased, I spent the past few days analysing all available Form 10 consolidated reports for the State for the ongoing SIR (until September 29) from the CEO Telangana website.
On October 1, CEO Sudarshan Reddy shared that over 29,000 Form 7 objections have been filed across Telangana.
I found that details of less than 15 per cent of the Form 7 details were uploaded on the CEO Telangana website (as Form 10 disclosures) for the corresponding period (as of date).
The failure in regularly updating Form 10 reports has made it difficult to keep a tab on any possible misuse of Form 7.
More findings in the report.
@frontline_india
frontline.thehindu.com/the-n…
Statement: The #PressClubOfIndia condemns the West Bengal Police's decision to file an FIR against @MaktoobMedia .
The Press Club of India urges the West Bengal Police to withdraw this FIR immediately and ensure that journalists are able to do their job without fear.
The Press Club of India condemns the West Bengal Police's decision to file an FIR against Maktoob Media for its reporting.
We urge the West Bengal Police to withdraw this FIR immediately and ensure that journalists are able to do their job without fear.
@WBPolice
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
The Press Club of India condemns the Kerala Police action in the Reporter TV office in Kochi and the seizure of journalists' personal mobile phones.
The Press Club of India urges the Kerala Police to refrain from acting against journalists in this manner and to immediately return their devices.
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
IFF is providing pro-bono legal aid to these journalists. We commend the PCI for issuing this statement.
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
What’s in a name, asks @iftikhargilani. A lot, actually. When you are dealing with the levels of ignorance prevalent in sections of Indian big media.
A leading PoK politician, Barrister Iftikhar Gilani, has come into the news in a big way and our own Iftikhar—one of India’s most respected political reporters, currently working for a Turkish outlet in Ankara—got a call a few days back from a reporter for a large Indian newspaper.
The reporter wanted his quotes for being elected to a nominated seat in the PoJK assembly. They said they had his profile ready and all details and just needed a quote. 😂
Gilani set them straight, after which they had the grace to call again and apologise, revealing that the “story” had come about because a certain TV channel reporter had mentioned that he, i.e. @iftikhargilani, had migrated to Pakistan and was now on his way to becoming prime minister there!
Iftikhar has written about this ‘comedy’ of errors, and given other examples where names got mixed up. CP Radhakrishnan for Pon Radhakrishnan in Vajpayee’s cabinet. Arjun Singh the politician for Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh as Punjab governor. And, hilariously, Kailash Satyarthi for Kailash Vijayvargiya… the crass BJP leader’s supporters actually started celebrating the 2014 Nobel Peace Price because they assumed their man had won it!
Coming back to my friend Iftikhar, we can laugh at the sheer foolishness of the ‘journalism’ around us but such yarns can sometimes have adverse real life repercussions.
thewireurdu.com/114990/when-… via @TheWireUrdu
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Statement of Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, President of the Press Club of India, on the August 20 incident at its premises.
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Capital wasn't the problem for us when we started, but the the challenges along the way were things we didnt even realised till we bumped into them. And then came the tyranny of the algorithm, of search, which often ensures that great content or a great story could be simply lost till it's picked up without attribution by the big boys: @kapur_ritu @TheQuint
We started in 2014, the year being a milestone and great motivator for [an independent platform]! Along the way, we began to encounter all the regulation and action designed for aimed squarely at digital media platforms: @mkvenu1 @thewire_in
We had extraodinary interest and support from readers and viewers, and almost none of that convered to subscription support. @kotiyalrahul @baramasa_in
We bootstrapped with our funds, didn't think about finances for the first year.. we still have the delusional idea of making journalism pay decently well, without compromising on independence, so no govt funds, and no concentrated corporate funding: @Priyanshi50 @PeekTV_in
(The young, under-respurced Peek TV and Baramasa made an especial impact during the Janata Mantar protests)
#TMFDialogue on Digital Media
@IIC_Delhi @FreeMedia_In
Happening Today, 6:30 PM onwards
: A Media Dialogue on ‘Digital News Media: Easy to Set Up, Difficult to Sustain?’
at India International Centre, New Delhi.
Happening on Thursday, August 20.
A Media Dialogue on ‘Digital News Media: Easy to Set Up, Difficult to Sustain?’
Speakers @kapur_ritu @mkvenu1 @Priyanshi50 @kotiyalrahul
Moderator: Vibodh Parthasarathi
6.30 PM @IIC_Delhi
Be there!
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Voices from @FreeMedia_In dialogue on media coverage of #GenZ protest led by #CJP:
"Each protester became a content creator and a citizen journalist"
"Credibility of legacy / mainstream media had been eroded over the years. None of the propaganda is working now"
"Mainstream media is still relevant because CJP is talking to them. How much we don't know. The audience are the parents of the protesters"
"How many newspapers carried photos that reflected the banners showed the anger of protesters at the PM?" (not many, unlike during Anna Hazare movement)
"Protesters included unemployed youth from UP and Bihar"
"It all depends on who is protesting. IAC protest was a middle class protest. It was the media's main audience"
"The government negotiated with CJP in good faith because they were 'our' youths"
"There was an attempt to infantalise the protesters or dub them anti national" (by pro-govt media)
"The establishment could not understand what was going on. They still don't. That's what led to Modi's midnight video"
#journalism – at New Delhi, India
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
"Is the mainstream media even relevant any more?" @poornimajoshi72 asks
"They are relevant. The parents of those GenZ protestors are watching and getting influenced by those TV channels. The doxxing of youngsters were getting amplified by those mainstream media people. The TV channels do have enormous influence, for better or worse." @sighyush
#TMFDialogues | GenZ Protests and the Media @FreeMedia_In
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
"A key element that the mainstream media did their best to gloss over was the focus of the protestors' ire: squarely the PM. The posters mocked him. The grafitti mocked him.
The mainstream media airbrushed over that, and this key point was largely left to social media and alternate, digital media, and foreign media, to highlight and report." @sighyush #TMFDialogues | GenZ Protests and the Media
@FreeMedia_In
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
"In 2016 I saw a disturbing narrative emerge against 'too much education' - against doctoral students, subsidised higher education .. that's come around full circle now, 10 yrs later, with education itself coming into the centerstage of a massive protest movement.
This 2026 protest happened and succeeded DESPITE the mainstream media. And yes, the credibility of mainstream media and especially TV dropped to an all-time low." @DrSarvapriya @BBCIndia to @poornimajoshi72 #TMFDialogues | GenZ Protests and the Media, IIC Delhi
Today! Aug 6, IIC 18:30
‘How the Media Covered the Gen Z Protests’ | The Media Foundation and IIC.
@DrSarvapriya @AdityaMenon22 @poornimajoshi72 @sighyush @Saurabh_Unmute @FreeMedia_In @IIC_Delhi
🛎️ Reminder: See you at Press Club of India today evening : Dr. Brahma Prakash
in conversation with Surabhi Kanga (@surabhikanga) on How Hindutva Shapes Feeling and Culture!
I will be in conversation with @surabhikanga on Spectacle State. Join us if you are around @HarperCollinsIN @PCITweets
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Bihar Police arrested or detained close to 700 students, including over 300 minors. Their families weren't informed for hours
"He only tried to expose how the police were beating up innocents.For tht, will you arrest him under attempt to murder charges?"
scroll.in/article/1094638/tw…
Mahtab महताब مہتاب retweeted
Frontline is looking for a reporter in Bengaluru to cover Karnataka. Must speak Kannada, must have excellent English writing skills, must be comfortable with political, cultural, socio-economic reporting. Mail CVs to [email protected]