SYED KHALIQUE AHMED
NEW DELHI, APR 24
Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan has tested Covid positive about a week ago and is in a very serious condition in Mathura jail where he is imprisoned.
This was revealed by his wife Raihana during an online interaction organized by the Students Organisation of India (SIO). Raihana who shared the information in Malayalam, was translated into English by Fayiza, a Malayali students studying in Jamia Millia Islamia.
Raihana said that Siddique, who is diabetic for the last 15 years, was not able to eat food provided by the jail staff and he has been surviving on cucumber only for the last 15 days.
She said that he was having fever about a week ago and collapsed in the bathroom. He was taken to a hospital in Mathura for medical examination where he was tested Covid positive.
Alleging that he was being tortured in jail, she said that Siddique’s condition would worsen further if immediate and proper medical care is not provided to him.
His advocate Wills Mathews told India Tomorrow that he was trying to get in touch with the jail authorities with a view to talk with Siddique to know about his latest health condition.
Meanwhile, Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking transfer of Siddique to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for his treatment for Covid. The plea said that there are about 50 inmates in Mathura jail who are suffering from Covid-19. “There is scarcity of everything in the jail. There is not even proper arrangement for drinking water. It is affecting their health and a major disaster is in the making”, the plea stated.
She said that when Siddique was brought to Kerala on parole for five days to meet his old ailing mother a few weeks ago, 25 policemen had accompanied him as if he was a dreaded terrorist.
Siddique, who was arrested on October 5, 2020, while on his way to Hathras to cover the gangrape and murder of a young dalit girl was booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a terror law.
Raihana said that Siddique was questioned if he was having any relationship with Islamic preacher Zakir Naik (currently taking refuge in Malaysia as the police here have booked cases of terrorism against him) or CPI (M) and what he did he talk when he met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
She also alleged that he was brutally tortured in Mathura jail.
Raihana said that she was able to talk to him for the first time after 45 days of his arrest. Siddique was working as a journalist for nine years before his arrest. He was general secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (Delhi chapter) at the time of his arrest.
She said that though the police have filed a 500-page charge sheet against him, there was no charge mentioned against him. She said that Siddique had been falsely implicated in terror charges.
(Syed Khalique Ahmed is the Chief Editor of indiatomorrow.net)
