Kashmir: Widespread persecution of journalists in Kashmir continues. CFWIJ concerned about the safety of journalists in the country.

Photo Credit: The Print

February 2, 2021, Srinagar - The worrying trend of harassment and intimidation of journalists continues in Indian-administered Kashmir. At least 18 reporters were interrogated by the police, and at least 12 have been assaulted. 

Following the abrogation of Article 370, the Indian state instituted a “revised media policy” in the region. The policy gives government officials the power to decide what material can be considered “fake news” or “anti-national”. This move is further compounded by the communication lockdown in place in Kashmir since the abrogation - the longest by any democracy. A government-run media-facilitation center is the only place in the region where journalists can access reliable internet, making it extremely tedious to report on the valley, even if one was to ignore the state filters in place. 

This unchecked power in the hands of government officials, an eighteen-month long internet shutdown, and the culture of police brutality in the region has many fearing about the future of journalism in Kashmir. This fear is not unfounded. 

Photojournalist Masrat Zahra was detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in April 2020 for "uploading anti-national posts with criminal intention" on her social media. The content in question was a photo from 2018 on her Instagram account that featured participants in a religious procession holding up a picture of Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old whom the Indian state killed for “militancy” in 2016. 

Social media is not all that is being surveilled, however. On October 19, 2020, authorities sealed the Srinagar office of Kashmir Times, the oldest English Daily of the region. Anuradha Bhasin, the executive director of the paper, alleges that these are intimidation tactics. According to her, this is not the first time the government tried to stifle the paper. In 2019, after her petition in the Supreme Court against communication blockade hampering the coverage of the region, the government pulled back advertisements in her newspaper, in an attempt to “control the narrative.”

Bhasin’s paper is not the only one that was targeted. On October 28, 2020, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the residence of Pervaiz Bokhari, a journalist with the AFP news agency, as well as the office of Greater Kashmir newspaper.

In instances where the organization refuses to budge under pressures from authorities, it appears that individuals associated with said organizations are targeted with harassment. On November 29, 2020, The Kashmir Walla, a weekly magazine and website, carried a story about mass-beatings of civilians by the Indian army deployed in the region. Editor Fahad Shah, claims that he was pressurized into taking down the story but he stood his ground. Since then he has been summoned to the police station multiple times, has been accused of spreading "fake news and inciting violence", and was detained for four hours by the authorities without cause. 

Moazam Mohammad, the vice president of the Kashmir Press Club reaffirmed the atmosphere of fear that journalists in Kashmir face. “There are still cases of journalists being harassed by the authorities, their equipment is being snatched and they are being asked to collect them from police stations,” according to him. 

The Women Journalist Association also issued a statement that said journalists in the region “often face disrespect and abuses at the hands of government forces. (The association) highly condemns the tactics used by government forces and calls for stern action by the police department. We also call upon the police department to issue a circular (saying) journalists (should) be allowed to perform their job hassle-free.”

The repression of journalists in Kashmir has also garnered international attention. A report published by the International Press Institute claimed that press freedom in Kashmir is “under a serious threat from security forces”. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also urged the authorities to stop the harassment of journalists in the valley. Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher in New York implored that “In these critical times in Jammu and Kashmir, police must stop harassing and questioning journalists and allow them to do their jobs without fear of reprisal.”

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the persecution of journalists and the censorship of the press that is currently underway in Kashmir. The actions of the Indian government are antithetical to the spirit of democracy and should be revised to ensure that the freedom of speech promised in the Indian constitution is practiced in the region.