Srinagar: Senior Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, has called out the Jammu and Kashmir Cyber Police booking Kashmiri journalists on Twitter. āFederalism has been overridden, Parliament & courts can’t convene, now media,ā he said. āAre we seeing the Lockdown of Democracy?ā
This week, three journalists were booked by the police. Masrat Zahra, a freelance photojournalist, was booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 505 of Indian Penal Code. While another FIR was filed against a story by a national daily, The Hindu,Ā and on Gowher Geelani, a Kashmir-based journalist and author.
āThe gradual erosion of our democracy under the guise of the fight against #COVID19 is gathering pace while we are all under #Lockdown,ā wrote Tharoor. āFederalism has been overridden, Parliament & courts can’t convene, now mediaš·. Are we seeing the Lockdown of Democracy?ā
Various rights groups and Kashmir Press Club has also called out the harassment of journalists by the police — and demanded charges to be withdrawn against the journalists.