“Why is the government so scared of cockroaches? ...this dictatorial behaviour is opening the eyes of India’s youth.”

Instagram Blocks 2-Minute Video on a Google Data Centre, on the Indian Govt’s orders.

Imagine waking up to the sharp smell of diesel exhaust drifting through your window while you watch your community’s river run low but not from drought, but from the massive water demands of nearby data centers.

Instagram, the social media platform owned by Meta, has restricted access to a 2-minute Instagram Reel uploaded by the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC), about Indian villagers protesting Google’s largest non-US data centre, as per The Wire:

“pursuant to a notice from “The Government of India/Law Enforcement under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.” No further details or rationale have been provided for this, the statement says. The reel had garnered about 2.6 million views before being restricted.”

As The Wire reported in late April:

India is now among the “limited countries” where Facebook and Instagram can “automatically restrict content, at scale and based on local law requirements,” The Hindu reported citing company source. 

Meta, the parent firm of both social media platforms, has reportedly complied with censorship orders on a large scale in recent weeks, after being hit by a barrage of takedown notices from State authorities and the Union government. 

The Sahyog portal, a Union home ministry initiative used by law enforcements to automate and expedite the removal of online content. The portal provides a web link for authorised police officials to enable bulk takedown orders, unilateral action, and direct communication with IT intermediaries, often targeting political criticism and satirical content, while offering no independent review process. 

It operates under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Intermediary Guidelines, 2021, under which social media platforms could lose “safe harbour” for content posted by users, and end up defending themselves in court alongside the people whose content has been targeted by authorities.

The Environmental Reporting Collective – a global collaborative journalism project focusing on“environmental crimes around the world” – put out a statement calling for the Instagram Reel to be reinstated. The video – of which a longer 5 minute version is available on Youtube, and has been embedded at the end of this story – is part of the ERC’s “Dirty Data” project, “which examines the human and environmental costs of the rapidly expanding data center industry”:

The Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) expresses serious concern over the lack of transparency surrounding Meta’s decision to block access in India to an Instagram reel connected to our cross-border investigation into the environmental and social impacts of data center expansion.

The two-minute reel, taken from video reporting by our partners Shamsheer Yousaf and Monica Jha from India, examines a proposed Google data center project in Visakhapatnam (Vizag) and its reported impact on Dalit lands and local communities. The reel was published on May 19, 2026, collaboratively across Shamsheer’s as well as the ERC’s social media platforms as part of our global “Dirty Data” investigation, which examines the human and environmental costs of the rapidly expanding data center industry.

The video gained significant public attention, particularly on Instagram, where it went viral the following day and has since recorded more than 2.6 million views. On May 22 at approximately 2.00pm, ERC received a notification stating that the reel was no longer available in India.

The notification stated that the video had been restricted pursuant to a notice from “The Government of India/Law Enforcement under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.”

At this time, ERC has not received any detailed explanation regarding the legal basis, policy rationale, or specific complaint that led to the restriction of the content in India.

ERC stands firmly behind the reporting and editorial processes underpinning this investigation and accompanying video. The work was produced through a rigorous journalistic process involving extensive field reporting, documentation, interviews with affected communities and relevant stakeholders, editorial review, fact-checking, and cross-border collaboration among experienced journalists and partner newsrooms.

We believe transparency and accountability are fundamental principles when decisions are made to restrict access to public-interest journalism, particularly reporting concerning environmental governance, land rights, infrastructure development, and the experiences of marginalized communities.

The lack of clarity surrounding this restriction raises broader concerns about the mechanisms through which journalistic content can be limited from public view, especially when such reporting addresses issues of significant public interest.

We call on Meta and the relevant authorities to provide greater transparency regarding this decision and to reinstate access to the video in India. ERC is also currently seeking legal advice regarding this matter.

ERC remains committed to responsible, evidence-based reporting and to supporting journalists and communities whose stories deserve to be heard.

This is not the first time that the Indian government has sought to have a social media profile or video blocked or restricted within the country. In February 2021, Twitter (now known as the more idiotic “X”) temporarily blocked 250 accounts from being viewed in India, if they had been covering or discussing the Farmer Protests, with Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act 2000 being invoked by the government. Then, as now, national security was cited as a reason, along with, though unspoken, embarrassment on the part of the government.

Shamsheer Yousaf and Monica Jha, in their reporting for the ERC’s “Dirty Data” project, write that:

“India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aggressively positioning the country as one of the world's leading hubs for artificial intelligence.”

In February 2026, the CEOs of Google, OpenAI and Anthropic mingled with India's business titans at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The gathering attended by more than 500,000 people in person and online was Modi's chance to pitch India as an emerging AI powerhouse in the Global South.

"Design and develop in India," Modi said. "Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity."

Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta have already pledged billions to build data centers in the country. At the summit, OpenAI joined the chorus, announcing a joint venture with Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate, to build more data centers and train workers to use AI. Adani Group, owned by the second-wealthiest man in India, pledged to invest $100 billion to develop hyperscale data centers powered by renewable energy.

Both Indian and foreign companies are being rewarded handsomely for their investments. Data center projects receive deep concessions on land and electricity. Ahead of the summit, Modi's government announced new tax breaks allowing foreign companies building data centers to defer taxes until 2047.

Yet, across India, from Mumbai to Chennai, the unbridled growth comes with a high cost borne by the country's most vulnerable communities. Low-income Dalit families say they are being evicted or pressured to sell their land as data centers arrive in town.

Is it any surprise, therefore, that a video that garnered over 2.6 million views on one of the world’s most popular social media platforms before being blocked, is something that Modi would rather not let Indians within the country see for themselves?

Follow the Environmental Reporting Collective’s global “Dirty Data” project at https://www.dirtydata.earth/

Nepali Press Freedom Eroding – Report

In early May, the Nepali freedom of expression organisation Freedom Forum published their annual report on the state of the media in 2026, “Eroding Press Freedom”, which presents “a comprehensive overview of the state of press freedom in Nepal between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026.”

The report highlighted a disturbing increase not just in the number of violations of freedom of the press, but threats and attacks as well:

“The report documents a total of 97 incidents of press freedom violations, affecting 145 media persons and 20 media houses. Among those affected, 15 percent are female journalists. This marks a significant increase compared to 68 incidents recorded in the previous year (2024/25).

According to the report, threats and attacks against journalists have risen notably. FF recorded 28 cases of threats, including death threats, targeting 37 media persons and 21 attacks affecting 30 journalists. In addition, eight journalists and four media houses faced lawsuits under various charges.”

“Online journalists appear particularly vulnerable with more than half of affected journalists working for different online news portals. Those covering government activities were primarily targeted for intimidation, with 35 cases reported followed by those reporting on corruption in public offices that led to threats and death threats in 31 cases.

The report also highlights continued legal threats on journalists including cases filed under outdated laws such as the Electronic Transaction Act's Section 47. The report further notes that media faced increased risks during political protests including the recent Gen Z-led movements. Worryingly, stalled law and policy reforms following the dissolution of Parliament have further weakened protections.

FF underscores the persistence of impunity with victim journalists and slain journalists' families still awaiting justice. 

The report further points to growing regulatory pressure, particularly during and after elections with authorities monitoring media and threatening legal action. It also raises concern over the government’s tendency to treat mass media and social media similarly in the name of content regulation, accompanied by warnings of legal consequences for publishing fake or misleading information.

In addition, the report identifies a deepening economic crisis in the media sector, exacerbated by post-COVID-19 challenges and new government advertisement regulations. It also calls for more proactive engagement from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in strengthening journalist safety mechanisms.”

The report can be downloaded here.

Though the report focuses on press freedom, the recent and apparently indefinite halt of a popular play based on the Gen Z protests in 2025, “Lucifer Rising”, after two weeks, also speaks to concerns about a continuation of the erosion of freedom of expression across Nepal. “Lucifer” was the name given to the then Mayor of Kathmandu, and now Prime Minister, Balen Shah, by a news analyst, for the politician’s alleged role during the protests.

Though popular, organisers of the play told audiences that the production had to come to a halt, citing pressure from “unknown political figures, tendencies, and groups” including death threats.

As Freedom Forum discuss in their own coverage of the closing down of the play:

“This incident is a severe restriction of artistic freedom and freedom of expression. Art is one of the important means of expressing emotions and bringing social issues to light. Hence, FF draws attention of the concerned authorities to address the issue and ensure a safe environment for exercise of artistic freedom.”

No Country For Young Cockroaches?

Note:If you don’t like bugs, or suffer from katsaridaphobia, you may want to ignore the next story. Think happy thoughts, la la la…

There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists, and other activists, and they start attacking everyone.

These words, uttered by Chief Justice of India and apparent people person Surya Kant on the 15^thof May, led 48 hours later to the creation of a satirical political party, the Cockroach Janta Party, or Cockroach People's Party. The CJP – whose name pokes fun at the ruling BJP – started out as the blattodean brainchild of Abhijeet Dipke, a young Indian political strategist who just wrapped up his Masters at Boston University – in Public Relations, a subject that CJI Kant could have benefited from, methinks.The Chief Justice has since tried to clarify his remarks,in the wake of the CJP’s massive social media presence and popularity,but the damage had been done. As Dipke related in an interview:

“I think it was more triggering because it came from the Chief Justice of India, who is the custodian of the Constitution, which grants us freedom of expression. Someone who is there to safeguard our freedom of expression is comparing us to cockroaches and parasites just for putting forward our opinions. That was the more hurtful part.”

Mr. Dipke and what the Spanish might call El Partido Popular de las Cucarachas have been busy since the middle of May, putting together a website, a manifesto, and a mission statement:

Build a party for the young people who keep getting called lazy, chronically online, and — most recently — cockroaches. That's it. That's the mission. The rest is satire.

For a tongue-in-cheek project, their manifesto doesn’t sound bad, either:

“If the CJP comes in power, no Chief Justice shall be granted a Rajya Sabha seat as a post-retirement reward.

If any legit vote is deleted, whether in a CJP or opposition-ruled state, the CEC shall be arrested under UAPA, as taking away voting rights of citizens is no less than terrorism.

Women shall receive 50% reservation, not 33%, without increasing the strength of Parliament. Additionally, 50% of all Cabinet positions shall be reserved for women.

All media houses owned by Ambani and Adani shall have their licences cancelled to make way for truly independent media. Bank accounts of Godi media anchors shall be investigated.

Any MLA or MP who defects from one party to another shall be barred from contesting elections — and from holding any public office — for a period of 20 years.”

For a satirical movement, the Cockroaches have gained a bit of a following, not just from run of the mill social media users and celebrities, but serious politicians too, such as the celebrated diplomat and author Shashi Tharoor, who remarked in an interview that:

“I think it is a revelation because it confirms to us the extent to which there is frustration and dissatisfaction that the public can express through being able to tap into an initiative like this.

It was obviously a spontaneous initiative but it went viral very quickly and I think it’s a very healthy thing in a democracy that people have different ways of being able to express their wishes and something that is satirical, humorous and at the same time deadly serious is an excellent outlet for the frustrations of the youth.”

National Security Concerns?

By May 21st, the Cockroach Janata Party was already beating out the ruling BJP on social media, boasting more followers than the party of Modi. That date is significant, as that was when X/The Website Formerly Known as Twitter blocked the CJP’s account. Why? “National Security Concerns.”

No, really:

“A senior government official told The Indian Express that the account was blocked after Intelligence Bureau (IB) raised “national security concerns”.

“MeitY [Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology] received an input from the IB to block the X account of Cockroach Janta Party, citing that it posed a threat to the sovereignty of India. The IB believed that the account was posting inflammatory content through its account, which could have jeopardised the country’s national security.” the official was quoted as saying by IE on conditions of anonymity. “In particular, the concern stemmed from the fact that the account’s content was gaining traction among young people.”

The account was withheld under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which allows the Union government to order the blocking of public access to online information. This applies to websites, apps, and social media posts, primarily to protect national security, public order, and sovereignty.”

If I were an official tasked with saying, with a straight face, that a satirical party called the Cockroach People’s Party was a possible national security threat, I would want to remain anonymous too, out of embarrassment.

Though the Cockroaches came springing back a day later with a new profile, Cockroach Is Back, the party has had their website taken down at least once, and the original X/Twitter account remains blocked (as of the time of this newsletter). Disturbingly, Dipke has reported that death threats have been sent to him and his family via WhatsApp – something that we have seen in the past aimed at academics researching India, or dissidents living overseas. In May 2024, for example, three Indian nationals in Canada were arrested and charged with the 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Najjar, a high profile Sikh activist, a killing that, according to the CBC,“investigators believe was tasked by the government of India.

That the government of India appears to believe that a satirical, tongue-in-cheek “party”, whose mascot and symbol is a cockroach, could be a threat to national security, would be farcical, were it not for the blocking of the CJP’s online presence, and the death threats that Mr. Dipke and his family are receiving.

Then again, in late May Modi refused to take any questions from journalists when visiting the Norwegian prime minister, and abruptly walked out of the room when asked, by the Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng Svendsen,“Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press in the world?”

As Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said, prior to meeting with Modi in The Hague,“The concern is to what extent India remains an inclusive society where the same rights apply to everyone.”

The last word, however, lies with Mr. Dipke:

“Why is the government so scared of cockroaches? But this dictatorial behaviour is opening the eyes of India’s youth. Our only crime is [that] we were demanding a better future for ourselves. But you can’t get rid of us that easily. We’re working on a new home right now. Cockroaches never die.”

Or, in other words:

Has a Pakistani Film Student been “Disappeared” by the State?

In the early hours of May 29th, Mehrab Khalid, a young film student and filmmaker from the city of Turbat in Balochistan was reportedly abducted by security forces. A student at Pakistan’s respected National College of Arts, the arts school has reportedly refused to make any statement concerning the disappearance or welfare of the young film student, on its website or social media. Indeed, there is little to no press coverage of the missing student. What information is available comes from statements by activist groups such as the Progressive Students Federation (PRSF):

“The Progressive Students Federation (PRSF) strongly condemns the abduction of Mehrab Khalid, a Baloch student from Turbat, and calls for his immediate release.

Mehrab, a second year student enrolled in the Film and television degree at the National College Of Arts, Lahore, was abducted by security forces at Anarkali, on 29th May, at 12:30 am. The university has made no statement on this abduction so far, we condemn the inaction and negligence of university administration regarding student safety.

Mehrab's disappearance is a part of a larger trend of targeting of Baloch artists and intellectuals, which has picked up speed in recent days. PrSF demands the immediate and safe recovery of Mehrab Khalid and all victims of enforced disappearance. We call upon all democratic, progressive, feminist, and human rights organizations to raise their voices against this systematic repression.”

A 2025 profile on Mehrab Khalid paints the young man as a humble yet creative fellow:

“He usually captures his land on his camera and selects locations which not only match the song, but also render him an opportunity to show his land. “The best things about shooting in Balochistan is its landscapes that make any film, documentary or a music video to look amazing to people living not only here but around the world,” he says.

“Only a Baloch filmmaker knows how the light from the top of the mountains reflects the lenses of camera,” he remarks, defining how hard and yet very joyous it is to record his mountains.”

As we wrote in late January of this year:

Though criticism has come from international and local organisations regarding violence from Baloch militant groups, including last year’s hijacking of a passenger train with 214 passengers held hostage, the reality is that there is a compelling body of evidence that highlights and validates the belief that enforced disappearances by the Pakistani state – going back to at least the 1970s – are used to intimidate not just what it views as militants, but political activists as well.

We can also include artists in the list of Baloch citizens intimidated and disappeared. As the Swiss-based Baloch human rights organisation Paank said on social media in the wake of Mehrab’s disappearance:

“Paank expresses grave concern for Mehrab’s safety and well-being. The targeting of students, artists, filmmakers, and young professionals through enforced disappearances represents a serious violation of fundamental human rights and freedom of expression.”

Whither Junaid Hafeez?

On March 13th, 2013, a young academic and Fulbright scholar by the name of Junaid Hafeez was arrested and charged with blasphemy, for Facebook comments he was alleged to have posted. Pakistan’s draconian and odious blasphemy legislation contains a provision for mandatory death sentences. In December 2019, Junaid was sentenced to death by a court in Multan, Pakistan, which had been rightly condemned as a “gross miscarriage of justice”. From the Guardian’s 2019 article:

“The blasphemy trial had been one of the most contentious in Pakistan, running for more than six years with various delays and seven different judges brought in. Hafeez’s former lawyer, Rashid Rehman, who had been threatened in court by religious leaders and other lawyers for taking on the case, was shot and killed in his office in 2014. Hafeez has since been kept in solitary confinement and the trial was held behind closed doors in a high-security prison in Multan.

“The prosecution, the witnesses and trial could not prove any of the allegations,” said Hafeez’s lawyer. “Hafeez was so happy when I met him on Wednesday night and everyone was sure that he would be acquitted.”

He alleged that during the trial that the prosecutor had not presented concrete evidence against Hafeez but had instead warned the judge that he was “against Islam” and that in Pakistan the case was “sensitive”. “It was the point I realised they were just using the religious card, which was immoral and unethical precedent in the court,” he said.”

I.A. Rehman, the veteran human rights activist and socialist who passed away in 2020, had said at the time in response to the actions of the court:

“The verdict is brutal and unjust. He has been in prison for six years for no reason. It is an open fact that trial courts in Pakistan rarely acquit accused in blasphemy cases.

“It is very deadly to comment on blasphemy related cases even in Pakistan. His lawyer was killed for following up the case. This has multiplied the fear in the country over such cases.”

In February 2026, Human Rights Watch called for the quashing of Junaid Hafeez’s conviction:

“Junaid Hafeez’s case is emblematic of the unjust and abusive nature of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should quash Hafeez’s conviction and safely release him and others held under the blasphemy laws.”

Since then, however, there has been relative silence, with even any news, any nuggets of information as to when or if any appeal will be heard, kept out of the public eye, for fear of reprisals by Pakistan’s religious far-right. Indeed, the most recent news that came out in May was in the form of a few lines in the first paragraph of an editoral by Pakistan’s DAWN newspaper:

“Delays caused by unavailable benches, repeated adjournments and fixation on procedure are becoming routine. A recent example is the appeal of former lecturer Junaid Hafeez against his death sentence in a blasphemy case. Despite being placed on the Lahore High Court’s red cause list for priority hearing, the matter was again deferred last week after the bench heard only one case before rising. Mr Hafeez has spent more than a decade behind bars since his arrest in 2013, while his appeal has remained pending since 2020. Reports suggest there has been little meaningful progress for roughly a year, with hearings repeatedly rescheduled or removed from the list altogether.”

To that end, I would like to leave you with the entirety of an open letter penned for DAWN by Mohammad Hanif, one of Pakistan’s finest novelists, satirists, and the nation’s ethical conscience, who calls truth to power and works to bring attention to the plight of the “Disappeared” of Balochistan:

“Dear Junaid Hafeez,

We are writing to reassure you that, although we sentenced you to death nearly seven years ago, you should take some solace in the fact that we have never hanged anyone convicted of blasphemy.

You might ask, if we don’t intend to carry out the sentence, why for the past six years are we not listening to your appeal? Why are we denying you your day in the court? A day on which a judge can overturn your sentence and release you. Or go through the evidence against you and confirm your punishment, so that you can file another appeal and then another and, finally, when your death sentence is confirmed by the highest court in the land, you can file a last mercy petition.

You have been waiting for 13 years to find out what it is that we intend to do with you. You might argue that, if you had committed second degree murder, got caught and convicted, with some good behaviour, you would be nearing the end of your sentence now.

But you didn’t kill anyone, you didn’t commit treason, you hatched no plans to overthrow the government, you didn’t challenge the authority of any institution. Instead, you read books, you talked about books, you wanted to live a bookish life, you went to a classroom, you were accused of blasphemy, you were sentenced to death. There may be a tacit promise by the state that you’ll not see the gallows, but we’ll also deny you the opportunity to prove your innocence and go home.

You might think that in the 13 years (do you still count days or are you counting years now?) you have been behind bars, the world has forgotten you. But your name does appear on human rights organisations’ annual reports, your picture does come up on our social media memories.

It has even been suggested that Junaid Hafeez gets more attention than hundreds of other victims of our slow justice, because it’s easy to identify with him. He is every working class parent’s dream boy, who tops every board exam, gets into Pakistan’s top medical college and, midway through his medical education, decides to pursue a life of letters, gets a Fulbright fellowship, returns home and continues to teach and learn. Here’s the kind of boy we always say is the bright future of this country.

There are many others who get far less attention than you. There are hundreds waiting trials, more than 50 who have been sentenced to death, their appeals not heard for years, sometimes for 10 sometimes for 20 years. In order to give you some hope, we might have given you Zafar Bhatti’s example, a medicine salesman who spent 14 years in jail on blasphemy charges. Last year, he finally had his day in court, and he was freed.

Freed. After keeping him in jail for 14 years, we declared that he was innocent. He went home. He died after three days. Three days of freedom after 14 years of captivity for a crime that never happened.

Our judicial system is often blamed for being an impossibly slow grind, and for being extremely reluctant to take up the appeals of those convicted on blasphemy charges. It seems as if opening the case file of a blasphemy convict will constitute blasphemy itself.

We can’t judge our judges too harshly for not wanting to listen to these appeals. Let’s not name names but lawyers, a judge, a minister and a governor have been assassinated trying to get the likes of you out of prison.

Since judges have to deal with murderers and terrorists, they are promised life-time police protection. Although they are courageous enough to convict and then preside over the appeals of dangerous criminals, they are wary of having a blasphemy convict in their court. “They know our society, they know our system, why would they trust it?” says your former lawyer Asad Jamal. He also points out that the door to a hall on the premises of Lahore High Court Bar Association is named Baab-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat [Door of the Seal of the Prophets]. “Here’s a daily reminder to the judges of the times and places we live in.”

We can assure you though that times are changing. In the past one year, there’s been a spate of bails, acquittals and people have got what we call ‘relief’. A woman who was snared into a blasphemy trap after playing a game of PUBG was acquitted after five years of imprisonment. Last year, Anwar Kenneth, accused of blasphemy and sentenced to death, was acquitted after spending 23 years in jail.

After keeping him in jail all this time, we realised that he wasn’t mentally fit to stand a trial. Lawyers remind us that many of those accused of blasphemy have mental health issues. It’s difficult to prove in the court, as the psychiatrists who can testify for them are scared and either wouldn’t appear or want to remain anonymous.

Since we insist on keeping you alive and locked, we must give you some hope, however flimsy. Those who made blasphemy the central plank of their politics, and threatened generals and judges and politicians, have been silenced for now. We sometimes fear that your acquittal might poke those monsters we have put to sleep. Or people who decide such things still suspect that these monsters might be unshackled to liven up our political circus.

In 2013, the year you went to jail, in India, they hanged Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri citizen accused of terrorism in India. The Indian Supreme Court said in its judgment that “the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender.” There’s no collective conscience here that needs to be satisfied. There are no hordes baying for your blood, only occasional voices pleading mercy, invoking your lost youth, your talent, your promise. You are a minor speck on our conscience because some of us are allowed to read books and write them and pursue our PhDs, but we can’t grant you the same privileges.

Many political analysts tell us that, if you are released tomorrow, no roads will be blocked in protest, no rallies will be held, the country will not burn, nobody will set fire to a tyre even. You are not being kept in a jail to satisfy our nation’s conscience. You are not allowed your day in the court because then we’ll have to face that conscience and decide.

Your current lawyer, Mr Saiful Malook, obviously frustrated at not getting your appeal heard, reminds us of the constitutional guarantee that citizens shall not be discriminated against on the basis of caste or colour or religion. But he is not naïve and knows that this is not how our society and justice system works. He simply pleads for equality of the condemned.

“The courts are listening to appeals filed in 2023 by those accused of multiple murders and even sentenced to death,” he says. “Junaid’s appeal is from 2020 — why isn’t his appeal being heard? Even if we can’t treat all citizens equally, at least those sentenced to death should be treated equally.”

What if judges are not scared for their safety but reluctant because of their faith? What if they don’t even want to touch a case file containing blasphemies, even if fabricated? Islamabad-based lawyer Talha Rehman, who represents more than 60 people accused of blasphemy, says that if the judges are of the view that blasphemy laws are effective, then why are they reluctant to help implement them? “The least they can do is hear the appeals,” he says, “and, if they feel the punishment is justified, they should confirm it, so that the accused can move to the next appeal.”

Dear Junaid, as you count your days and years and wait for your day in court, we reiterate that we have never hanged anyone accused of and convicted of blasphemy. But we’ll fit a noose around your neck every morning and take it off every night. So that our conscience doesn’t bother us in our sleep.”

Sources:

Baloch, S. M., & Ellis-Petersen, H. (2019, December 21). Pakistan: outrage over death sentence for “blasphemous” lecturer. The Guardian.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/21/death-sentence-for-pakistani-lecturer-junaid-hafeez-in-blasphemy-case-prompts-outcry

3 Indian nationals arrested for murder of Sikh activist. (2024, May 4). CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/surrey-bc-sikh-community-1.7193287

Editorial. (2026, May 25). Justice deferred. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2002904

‌The Environmental Reporting Collective. The Environmental Reporting Collective. https://www.investigative.earth/

‌ERC Calls for Reinstatement of Instagram Reel Restricted in India. (2026, May 24). The Environmental Reporting Collective. https://www.investigative.earth/news/erc-calls-for-reinstatement-of-instagram-reel-restricted-in-india

‌Who is Abhijeet Dipke, the brains behind the viral Cockroach Janta Party movement? (2026, May 21). Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/who-is-abhijeet-dipke-the-brains-behind-the-viral-cockroach-janta-party-movement-14013417.html

FF report highlights eroding press freedom in Nepal.(2026, May 13). Freedom Forum. https://freedomforum.org.np/news/detail/840

‌Stage drama “Lucifer Rising” halted following threats.(2026, May 25). Freedom Forum. https://freedomforum.org.np/news/detail/844

Foncillas, A. (2026, May 30). El Partido Popular de las Cucarachas: el movimiento viral que desafía al Gobierno de la India. El Periódico. https://www.elperiodico.com/es/internacional/20260530/india-partido-cucarachas-contra-gobierno-narendra-modi-130836211

G, M. C. (2026, May 21). Shashi Tharoor: “Cockroach Janta Party reveals people frustrated with government… has shown Opposition there is opportunity waiting to be seized.” The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/shashi-tharoor-cockroach-janata-party-reveals-people-frustrated-with-govt-has-shown-opposition-there-is-an-opportunity-waiting-to-be-seized-10701728/

Hanif, M. (2026, May 31). Law: Open Letter To Junaid Hafeez. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2003949/law-open-letter-to-junaid-hafeez

Pakistan: Quash Longstanding Blasphemy Case (2026, February 27). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/26/pakistan-quash-longstanding-blasphemy-case

Modi avoids Norway media: How that led to storm over India’s press freedom. (2026, May 20). Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/20/modi-avoids-norway-media-how-that-led-to-storm-over-indias-press-freedom

Indian spies linked to killings, tracking dissidents abroad: What we know. (2024, May). Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/indian-spies-linked-to-killings-tracking-dissidents-abroad-what-we-know

‌Kaur, A. (2026, May 23). I don’t think the ruling party has the stomach for sarcasm, says Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/crackdown-on-cockroach-janta-party-access-to-all-accounts-lost-says-founder-abhijeet-dipke/article71014074.ece

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Controversial play “Lucifer Rising” forced offstage. (2026). Nepal News. https://english.nepalnews.com/s/entertainment-lifestyle/controversial-play-lucifer-rising-forced-offstage/

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Washington, T. (2026, February 23).Data Centers, Pollution, and the Communities Left Behind. Sustainability Dialogue,The University of Chicago. https://sustainabilitydialogue.uchicago.edu/news/data-centers-pollution-and-the-communities-left-behind/

India Now Among Countries Where Facebook, Instagram Can “Automatically Restrict Content”: Report (2026, April 25). The Wire. https://thewire.in/rights/india-now-among-countries-where-facebook-instagram-can-automatically-restrict-content-report

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