You follow the news. You were informed about Waris Ahluwalia, the Sikh who was stopped from boarding his flight in Mexico because of his turban. You were informed about Madhur Bhandarkar getting a honourary doctorate. You were informed that Anupam Kher did not get a visa for Pakistan. You were informed about a goat getting arrested in Chhattisgarh. But, were you informed that journalist Malini Subramaniam’s house, on February 7, was gheraoed by goons chanting furious slogans: Naxal samarthak bastar chodo (Naxal supporter, leave Bastar). Malini Subramaniam Murdabad (Death to Malini Subramaniam)?

This journalist was attacked in Chhattisgarh in a country which does not, in any case, have a great ranking in ">safety for journalists.

Under the cover of darkness, at around 2:30am on February 8, a motorcycle slowed down in front of Malini Subramaniam’s house in Jagdalpur, Subramaniam told Newslaundry. She was jolted by fear when she heard the clang of an object hitting the metal gate of her house. When she went out to see what caused the jarring noise, she found large stones lying on her porch and the rear windscreen of her car was shattered. A message had been delivered.

When Newslaundry contacted Subramaniam, she was still at the police station, struggling to get an FIR registered.

The attack was not a bolt from the blue. Subramaniam was warned by the slogan shouting mob outside her house the previous evening. Subramaniam filed an official complaint with the police about this frightening incident.

The mob urged Subramaniam’s neighbours to join the attack because they believed her to be a Maoist supporter, supplying arms to the insurgents, the complaint reads. The complaint also goes on to state that the men tried to incite her neighbours against her by claiming that she could potentially plant bombs in their homes as well. Subramaniam identified the men as members of Samajik Ekta Manch who had paid her a visit last month as well. She specifically mentioned the name of two of these men – Manish Parakh and Sampat Jha – who were present during the group’s previous visit. At that time, on January 10, the men introduced themselves as citizens who wanted to counter Naxalism in Bastar and support the police in its endeavour. They had raised serious objections to her news reports. “Samajik Ekta Manch is behind the attack. There is no hiding from that fact. They identified themselves as members of the group when they came. They didn’t try to hide it or send different people the next time,” Subramaniam told Newslaundry. According to Subramaniam, Prakash is a leader of BJP’s Yuva Morcha whereas Jha is a member of the Congress. We have tried to contact both men and are awaiting their response. The piece will be updated when we get it.

After several attempts, Newslaundry finally managed to speak to RN Dash, SP of Bastar, at 7:30pm on February 9.  He claimed to have no knowledge of the attack and refused to comment. “I had been out of town all day and so I am not aware of any such incident. I can only look into the matter later,” the SP said. The next day the SP’s phone was once again unreachable. Newslaundry has sent questions to Dash about Subramaniam’s claims that she tried alerting the SP about the mob protesting outside her house on the evening of February 7. She claims that once she was able to connect to Dash, he cut her call rather than hearing her out.

At 6:00pm when Newslaundry contacted Subramaniam, she had just returned home after spending the day trying, unsuccessfully, to file an FIR with the local police. “They [the police] have the complaint letter but still haven’t filed the FIR. They say they will file an FIR later after conducting their own investigation. My life is still in danger and I am still under threat. Let’s see what happens tomorrow”, she said apprehensively.

Isha Khandelwal, Subramianiam’s lawyer, spoke to Newslaundry and pointed to the unhelpful and dismissive attitude of the local police. She mentioned that Subramaniam had tried to contact the SP right after the mob arrived in her neighbourhood earlier in the evening. “She tried calling the SP but her call didn’t get through. When she tried calling from a different number he picked up. As soon as she started describing the incident, he hung up on her,” Khandelwal said. On Monday when Khandelwal and Subramaniam tried to get in touch with the SP they were told at his office that he wasn’t in town. Neither were the local ASP, commissioner or mayor available to hear them out. Subramaniam who lives in Bastar with her 14 year old daughter was worried about their safety.

When asked why the police was not responding to her complaint, she said, “The Manch and the police have conducted a lot of activities earlier. They had even organised a Maoist wedding along with the police where ex-Maoists were helped to marry each other. The police was from the groom’s side and the Manch represented the bride’s side. They are very much in contact with each other.”

Subramaniam told us that during their visit on January 10, the Manch took keen interest in questioning Subramaniam regarding her journalistic work. The reason they gave for being provoked by her writing was that it “tarnished the image of Bastar police”, she says.

Subramaniam has been writing from Chhattisgarh detailing the lives of Adivasis. Over the past year she has written about large-scale sexual violence against Adivasis by security forces, the difficulty of being a journalist in Chhattisgarh, among other reports.

This is not the first unwelcome visit to Subramaniam’s home. In a letter sent to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Scroll.in enquired about a surprising late night visit paid by the police to Subramaniam’s house on January 10, 2016. “The police arrived at her Jagdalpur residence around 11:00pm. They did not spell out the reasons for their visit. Ms Subramaniam was alone at home with her daughter. She requested them to come during the day but they persisted in asking her questions for nearly 40 minutes,” the letter stated. A second letter sent by Scroll to Chief Minister Raman Singh complained about another arbitrary visit made by the police to her house on January 20.

Intimidating reporters is not a new tactic in India. Every government in power practices it. If not intimidation, cutting access to interviews and information is another tool used against journalists who do not play along to support those in power. If news organisations do not report this and take it up as an issue to stand united against arm twisting tactics, the role of journalists in India will turn from Truth to Power into Prop to Power. Should a watch dog become a lap dog?