Journalist Mandeep Punia was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday a day after a Delhi court granted him bail. The Delhi police had arrested Mandeep, a freelance journalist, on Sunday from the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana where hundreds of farmers have been protesting for months together against the farm laws.
Speaking to the media following his release, Mandeep said, “I had written notes on my legs while inside the prison. So that I can write a report on what I saw and heard at the farm protest site.” He also added that he had got the chance to meet jailed farmers while he was put in Tihar.
#MandeepPunia Mandeep Punia speaks after being released from Tihar jail pic.twitter.com/NLoPN68FWi
— Siddharth Setia (@ethicalsid) February 3, 2021
“I could report from Tihar jail also thanks to this government. They gave me an opportunity by putting me inside,” he adds sarcastically. Showing his calf, on which he had scribbled notes, Mandeep said that he had noted down names and statements of the farmers he had spoken to, so that he can finish his report.
Regarding the imprisonment of several reporters who have covered contentious issues in the country, Mandeep said that all of them “facing state repression” need to be released soon.
“Just like me there is Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan who has to be released. The different reporters across different places who are facing the state’s repression need to be freed,” Mandeep added. The journalist also added that the most difficult part - reporting from the ground - has to continue no matter what.
The Delhi police booked Mandeep Punia under various counts of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including "obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions", "assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty", and "voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty".
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Mandeep thanked all those who stood by him. While thanking the court for granting him bail, he questioned if he should have been arrested at all by the police.
पत्रकारिता कोई संतुलनकारी कार्य नहीं है, खासकर ऐसे समय में, जब सरकार लोगों से कुछ छिपाना चाह रही हो, तब पत्रकारिता करना मुश्किल हो जाता है. सत्ता को सच का पता होता है, पर वो सच लोगों को पता चलना चाहिए.
— Mandeep Punia (@mandeeppunia1) February 4, 2021
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"But journalism is not a balancing act, it is tough when the powers don't want people to know the truth. Powers know the truth. People need to be informed accurately. Am aware that journalism is not a glamorous thing. My colleagues in India and elsewhere have faced worse," he tweeted,
On Tuesday, a Delhi court granted him a bail on a guarantee of Rs 25,000. In the bail order, it said that “it is a well settled legal principle of law that bail is a rule and jail is an exception”.