West Dunbartonshire’s representative in Westminster, Martin Docherty-Hughes, was at an important meeting of Sikh lawyers last week.
He wanted to hear what they had to say about the Bloom Review, the British Government’s investigation in to how it engages with faith groups.
Later the SNP politician, who also spoke at the event, decided to check up on how it was covered in the press.
He found an article in the Times of India, the paper of record in the country usually billed as the world’s biggest democracy.
On top of the story was a picture of those present. But not Mr Docherty-Hughes. Where he had been sitting, right next to the Labour peer Kuldrip Sahota with his distinctive red turban, there was nothing but a man-shaped brown smudge.
READ MORE: Why aren’t we talking about India and Jagtar Singh Johal?
“It’s all a very odd experience,” Docherty-Hughes said. “I saw the photo and knew something wasn’t right given I had seen several pictures taken from exactly the same angle and and I didn’t leave my seat during the entire event.”
The Times of India picture was low-resolution. But why was Docherty-Hughes invisible?
The Herald on Thursday asked the paper to explain what had happened. It has not responded.
What is not a mystery is Docherty-Hughes’ views on India. The MP has been a vocal and repeated critic of the nationalist government of Narendra Modi for some years. He has mentioned India 46 times in the last five years. In fact, an hour after he attended the Sikh meeting – which took place in a House of Lords committee room on Wednesday – he was on his feet in the Commons expressing concern about Modi’s administration.
Asked why he was not in the picture, Mr Docherty-Hughes said: “I would hope it wouldn’t be because of the very serious question of Indian Government interference in allied democracies: a point made last month by Canada’s National Security Advisor and which I actually raised with the Home Secretary in Parliament not an hour after this photo was taken."
He added: “I would hope also it wouldn’t be because of my ceaseless advocacy on behalf of my constituent Jagtar Singh Johal, arbitrarily detained in India for more than five years, according to the United Nations.
“And I would certainly also hope it wasn’t because I was speaking at an event advocating on behalf of the Sikh community: but these points together lead us to a pretty grim conclusion.”
Mr Docherty-Hughes has become increasingly interested in Sikh and Indian issues since he started lobbying for Mr Johal, a 36-year-old who goes by “Jaggi” in his home town of Dumbarton.
Mr Johal is accused of terror charges – of threatening to kill right-wing Hindu leaders – but has been detained Punjab without trial since 2017.
The Indian authorities have been accused of torturing Mr Johal by international bodies. But they deny these reports. Last month First Minister Humza Yousaf called for the Johal to be released.
There have been growing international concerns about human rights in India. Reporters Without Frontiers in 2023 annual report ranked India at 161 out of 180 states for press freedom, down from 150th a year earlier.
The group in its report said: “The violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in ‘the world’s largest democracy’.”
The Indian media, political activists and authorities have been accused of digitally manipulating images, often crudely. During the pandemic in 2021 local police added facemasks to a picture of police officers carrying out arrest. A mask mandate had just been enforced.
Mr Modi’s supporters have flushed the internet with what Indians often called ‘Photoshopped” photographs in reference to the popular editing tool. A picture of the prime minister – who has had a hugely successful social media presence for years – as a young man sweeping floors went viral nearly a decade ago. It later emerged the original image featured somebody else.
Britain’s National Union of Journalists has been worried about press freedom in India for some time. Chris Frost, a former professor of journalism who chairs the NUJ’s Ethics Council chair, said: “The NUJ has raised its concern over the hostile attitudes towards journalists in India, many of whom have been arrested and detained because of their reporting in recent years. We have called on Indian authorities to respect and value press freedom ensuring this is not limited to those supporting individuals in power.”
Prof Frost added: “Any erasure of individuals critical of authorities is worrying and poses ethical concerns about information relayed to the public. India must ensure journalists feel able to report accurately, avoiding the harm of self-censorship."
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