“As journalists, we are not strangers to threats and intimidation. Whenever we go out for a story, we anticipate some kind of violence and we analyze the risks and think about what could go wrong,” – Ismat Ara, Journalist based in India.  In Mapping patterns of violence against journalists in India, The Polis Project’s Watch the State recorded 256 instances of violence against journalists between May 2019 (which marks the beginning of the second term of the current government) and August 2021. According to Reporters Without Borders 2021 World Press Freedom Index, “Ever since the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), pressure has increased on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line.”  At Watch the State, we documented instances of violence against journalists under various categories. Of 256 instances, 26 were during the Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act…

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