Journalism is not a crime. Masrat Zahra is a professional photojournalist who has done a commendable job to tell stories accurately and honestly in her four-year-long career. The J-K police has booked her under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and IPC-505 for allegedly posting “anti-national” content on social media. This is outrageous and unwarranted.
Simultaneously, Peerzada Ashiq, who represents The Hindu in J-K and is a senior journalist, was arbitrarily summoned for questioning to Anantnag in the middle of this pandemic because the police didn’t agree with a story that he had done recently. It isn’t for the first time that authorities — civil or police — disagree with a newspaper story and want their version to be published as well. The standard procedure to follow in all such cases has been to issue a statement or a rebuttal and ask the respective media organisation to publish it as well. In this case, the police filed a case and summoned the journalist to travel fifty kilometers in the middle of this pandemic to punish him.
We believe that these two recent actions are aimed at muzzling the press in Kashmir — a process that has been going on for some time now.
In Kashmir, the media fraternity has continued to work despite assassinations, threats, and intimidation from all sides. The situation on the ground here has always been dangerous for journalists. We have faced measures like choking of our resources and blanket communication blockades. But we have never given up. We have kept on telling the stories of our people.
Today we stand in solidarity with our two colleagues and demand that the government must immediately withdraw these false charges against them. Such acts will not silence journalists in Kashmir. Our job is “to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” and we will keep on doing so.
The Kashmir Walla needs you, urgently. Only you can do it.
We have always come to you for help: The Kashmir Walla is battling at multiple fronts — and if you don’t act now, it would be too late. 2020 was a year like no other and we walked into it already battered. The freedom of the press in Kashmir was touching new lows as the entire population was gradually coming out of one of the longest communication blackouts in the world.
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