The price of asking questions: Two women journalists under attack

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* 

The alleged assault of two female journalists by Delhi Police at the Saket police station on September 3, 2026, has become a talking point across the country. More importantly, it has revived a troubling question: Is there any dignity left for media professionals in India?

Journalists reporting from the ground are among the most vulnerable members of the profession. Their safety, dignity and professional freedom can be placed at risk simply for doing their jobs.

Two journalists, Shaheen Khan and Nafisa, representing 4 PM News Network, allege that they were forcibly removed from an event in Saket and subsequently assaulted inside a police station. They had gone to cover an event attended by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

During the interaction, Khan questioned the Delhi chief minister about what has been described as the “cycle scam” in the national capital—the alleged financial irregularities surrounding the procurement of free bicycles for schoolgirls in Delhi.

The question reportedly triggered a commotion. According to the journalists, women police officers stationed at the venue dragged them outside and took them to the nearby police station, where they allege that the physical abuse continued.

The journalists have further alleged that their treatment became worse after police officers learned that they were Muslims.

Delhi Police has denied the allegations of assault. According to the police version, the journalists were removed from the event following an argument related to illegal parking and were brought to the police station for questioning.

Whatever the competing accounts, the allegations are serious enough to demand an independent and impartial investigation. When allegations of custodial violence are made against the police themselves, an internal denial cannot be the final word.

The controversy comes amid growing criticism on social media over alleged police action against protesters at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. That incident has triggered public anger and protests by students and activists in different parts of the country. Young protesters have been demanding accountability and an independent investigation.

Now, allegations of mistreatment of journalists at Saket police station have added another disturbing dimension to the debate.

So far, according to reports, no FIR has been registered against the police personnel accused of assault. Public anger, meanwhile, continues to grow.

On September 3, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra strongly criticized Delhi Police over the alleged treatment of the two journalists. She alleged that the journalists were abused and assaulted after questioning the government and argued that those responsible should be held accountable.

For many observers, however, the Saket episode is not an isolated concern. Muslim journalists in India have repeatedly alleged targeted state action, legal harassment, intimidation and physical attacks.

Consider the cases that have become emblematic of the pressures facing journalists.

Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with a 2018 social media post. Zubair's fact-checking work has frequently scrutinized hate speech and misinformation. His arrest drew condemnation from international press-freedom organizations, which raised concerns about the use of criminal law against journalists and fact-checkers.

Journalist Siddique Kappan, who was traveling to Uttar Pradesh to report on the Hathras sexual assault case, was arrested by the state police and charged under stringent laws, including anti-terror provisions. He spent more than two years in detention before securing bail.

In Kashmir, journalists including Asif Sultan and Sajad Gul have faced repeated legal action under stringent laws, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Public Safety Act, amid concerns raised by press-freedom organizations about restrictions on journalism in the region.

Journalists covering events organized by Hindu nationalist groups have also, on various occasions, reported being singled out, physically confronted or pressured to disclose their identities.

In 2020, Shahid Tantray, a photo editor with The Caravan, was reportedly beaten while covering communal violence in Delhi. According to accounts of the incident, his attackers demanded to know his identity and assaulted him after learning that he was Muslim.

Muslim women journalists have faced another, particularly vicious form of intimidation: the circulation of their photographs and personal information without consent through fabricated online “auction” applications designed to humiliate and threaten them.

Prominent Muslim women journalists such as Rana Ayyub and Arfa Khanum Sherwani have also faced sustained online harassment, including trolling, doxxing, manipulated images and death threats.

The cumulative picture is deeply disturbing.

India's media landscape has become increasingly polarized, and critics argue that a substantial section of the mainstream media has moved closer to the political establishment and Hindutva-oriented forces. In such an environment, independent journalism can become a hazardous profession.

For Muslim journalists, the risks can be even greater. They are a conspicuous minority in an industry whose social and institutional composition has long been criticized for its lack of diversity. Studies of Indian newsrooms have highlighted the severe under-representation of Muslims and other marginalized communities.

The problem, however, goes beyond religion.

Indian journalists more broadly face allegations of state repression through arrests, censorship, physical assaults, surveillance and the use of stringent laws. Provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 152, have attracted concern among civil-liberties advocates over their potential use against journalists, editors and critics. The government's regulation of online platforms has likewise raised questions about the space available for critical journalism in the digital era.

Reporters covering protests and public demonstrations can find themselves caught between protesters and law-enforcement agencies. Physical assaults, detention and confiscation of equipment are not merely threats to individual journalists; they are attacks on the public's right to know.

Independent bodies such as the Press Club of India have repeatedly condemned attacks on journalists and called for action against those responsible. Yet accountability often appears elusive.

The tragedy is that journalists are increasingly treated as expendable—as though their professional status somehow makes their safety less important.

But a democracy cannot have a healthy public sphere without journalists who are free to question those in power.

India's position in global press-freedom rankings has also become a matter of international concern. Reporters Without Borders has repeatedly highlighted legal pressure, judicial harassment, violence and the use of national-security laws as factors restricting press freedom in India.

The larger question is not whether journalists should be liked by governments, political parties or police departments.

They should not.

A journalist's job is to ask uncomfortable questions.

If a reporter can be dragged away for asking a question, assaulted for doing the job, arrested for reporting an inconvenient story, or threatened because of religion or gender, then the damage extends far beyond that individual journalist. It intimidates every reporter watching from the sidelines—and ultimately silences the public.

The alleged assault of Shaheen Khan and Nafisa should therefore not be dismissed as another confrontation between journalists and the police. It should be treated as a test of India's commitment to press freedom.

There must be an independent investigation into the allegations, accountability if wrongdoing is established, and institutional safeguards to ensure that journalists can perform their duties without fear of violence or intimidation.

A country that takes pride in being the world's largest democracy cannot afford a media environment in which journalists have to choose between their safety and the truth.

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*Journalist based in Chennai