- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Narendra Modi government has closed the Kashmir Press Club, inviting heavy criticism from journalists, politicians and others who accused it of suppressing critical reporting in the Muslim-majority union territory.
Tension has increased in the Valley, particularly after the Indian government suspended Kashmir’s special status under the Indian Constitution and recently, civilians from non-Muslim communities have been targeted there, raising serious questions over the security situation.
Kashmir has remained a disputed territory between India and Pakistan since August 1947 when both the countries became independent and have been claiming it to be their part. They have fought a number of wars over it while unrest has continued over the decades, resulting in deaths of several thousands of people, mostly civilians.
Journalists in Kashmir have come under increased pressure in recent times. According to a report in AFP, they have faced arrests, raids, prosecution on “terrorism”-related charges and even harassment over their reporting.
The Kashmir Press Club has been the only elected journalists’ body in Kashmir liaising with the government on challenges that the reporters face and had issued statements critical of police actions against the media.
On Monday (17), authorities said the body, which was created in 2019 following a lengthy struggle by local journalists, “ceased to exist” as a registered body. They accused the club’s members of “illegalities on several counts”.
They even alleged that the press club had failed to re-register under new laws that came into force in the region in 2019 when Kashmir came under New Delhi’s direct rule and that its management body had failed to conduct elections.
In December, the authorities gave a fresh registration after a rigorous process lasting six months. New polls were announced after that after two days, they held it in “abeyance”.
Over the weekend, a group of pro-government journalists, along with armed police and paramilitary troops, declared themselves in charge outside the premises.
The Editors Guild of India, a non-partisan association of editorial leaders who are committed to free, fair and independent journalism, called the action on Kashmir Press Club as an “armed takeover”.
Ishfaq Tantray, the club’s secretary, said the government “wanted to stifle the voice of journalists that resonated through the forum called Kashmir Press Club, the only democratic and independent journalist body (in Kashmir)”.
“It seems that the coup & its aftermath was entirely orchestrated to shut down another outlet that served as a medium for journalists to debate & discuss their opinions freely,” former Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is also a fierce critic of the Modi government’s Kashmir policy, said on Twitter.
“With every passing day all the safety valves to express dissent are being muzzled,” the Peoples Democratic Party leader also said.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the aim of the shutdown was “to prevent journalists from doing their jobs” and urged the authorities to stop the “repeated harassment of journalists” in Kashmir.
The government said in a statement on Monday that it was committed to a free and fair press and “journalists are entitled to all facilities, including a place for professional, educational, social, cultural, recreational and welfare activities”, AFP added.
The statement added that the government expects a new “bona fide society of all journalists” to approach it for “reallocation” of the press club premises.
