
Mehbooba Writes to PCI: Probe Harassment of J&K Journalists
Why are media-persons being asked to fill in forms with most personal details?’
SRINAGAR, Sep 27: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti today wrote a letter to Press Council of India (PCI) seeking its intervention to prevent the continued harassment of media by the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a letter to the secretary PCI, Mehbooba has urged the body to send a fact-finding team to Jammu and Kashmir to independently verify claims of snooping, harassment and intimidation, she mentioned in the letter, and take remedial action against these.
In the letter, which has been marked to Editors Guild of India (EGI), Mehbooba also stated that she had hoped that the PCI would take a suo moto note of these widely reported incidents. “It seems that no established watchdog forum, including the courts, has taken any interest in the painful circumstances created in J&K, not to speak of any intervention,” the letter reads.
The senior politician also enclosed a copy of a questionnaire that, she said, has been served to the journalists who are being investigated by the state. Mehbooba picked apart the questionnaire which, she says, apart from asking “irrelevant and personal” questions, is based on an assumption that their personal ties and loyalties lie with “anti-national” networks.
“Unfortunately, this is a diabolical method to perpetuate the communal mindset throughout the country in order to gain political mileage and relevance by demeaning and marginalising an entire community,” she wrote.
Citing the raids carried out by the J&K police at the homes of four journalists earlier this month, Mehbooba added that the people at large and media particularly has been at the receiving end. The police on September 8 raided the homes of four senior journalists – Showkat Motta, Hilal Mir, Azhar Qadri and Shah Abbas – while seizing their personal items such as electronic gadgets like mobile phones, laptops, ATM cards and passports including of their spouses.
“Unwarranted harassment of journalists has become a norm and this policy has been implemented by raiding their homes, summoning and interrogating them on frivolous grounds such as innocuous tweets, conducting background checks of journalists and their family members by CID, withdrawal of benefits including accommodation of some senior journalists, seizure of mobile phones, laptops, confiscating passports, ATMs cards etc,” Mehbooba said.
The letter also pointed out that as many as 23 journalists have been put on an exit control list (ECL) and added that a student was recently de-boarded from a plane, arrested and subsequently released. “Even students who bag scholarships in prestigious colleges in top universities of world not allowed to go study there,” the letter states.
The letter said the people at large and media especially in J&K have been at the receiving end of this policy.
The former chief minister alleged a sizable number of journalists are either threatened or charged with sections under UAPA or sedition law, simply because their reportage on J&K does not cater to the “PR stunts of the ruling dispensation”. She said reporting truth to power is being criminalised with every passing day.
“In a democratic set up, a free and independent press is crucial and essential for government institutions to function in a transparent manner with due accountability towards its citizens,’’ it said. “We have witnessed the manner in which fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Indian Constitution have increasingly come under attack especially in the last two years by a hostile and insecure dispensation.”
“I strongly believe that the journalists working and reporting in J&K are amongst the bravest in the world especially at a time when a large section of the Indian media has become a propaganda extension of the Central government,’’ she said.
She said the hostile environment that they operate in with frequent curfews, encounters, hartals and other adverse security situations has not weakened their determination to ensure that truth doesn’t become a casualty.
She said there have always been issues and disagreements between the state and media but never before has the freedom of expression been virtually guillotined in any part of the country as it has been done in J&K for the past three years.
Full text of the letter below:
“I am sure you are aware that raids were conducted by police at homes of several journalists in Kashmir earlier this month. Personal items such as electronic gadgets including phones and laptops were illegally seized along with ATM cards and passports of their spouses. This comes close on the heels of the harrowing experiences that the journalist community in Jammu and Kashmir has been subject to post the abrogation of Article 370 by the Indian government.
In a democratic set up, a free and independent press is crucial and essential for government institutions to function in a transparent manner with due accountability towards its citizens. We have witnessed the manner in which fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Indian Constitution have increasingly come under attack especially in the last two years by a hostile and insecure dispensation.
People at large and media especially in J&K has been at the receiving end of this policy. Unwarranted harassment of journalists has become a norm and this policy has been implemented by raiding their homes, summoning and interrogating them on frivolous grounds such as innocuous tweets, conducting background checks of journalists and their family members by CID, withdrawal of benefits including accommodation of some senior journalists, seizure of mobile phones, laptops, confiscating passports, ATM Cards etc. Reportedly 23 journalists have been out on ECL. (Exile Control List) Even students who bag scholarships in prestigious colleges in top universities of the world are not allowed to go study there. Recently, a student was deboarded from a plane, arrested and subsequently released. In addition to this, a sizeable number of journalists are either threatened or charged with sections under UAPA or Sedition Law, simply because their reportage of J&K does not cater to the PR stunts of the ruling dispensation. Reporting truth to power is being criminalised with every passed day.
I strongly believe that the journalists working and reporting in J&K are amongst the bravest in the world especially at a time when a large section of the Indian media has become a propaganda extension of the Central Government. The hostile environment that they operate in with frequent curfews, encounters, hartals and other adverse security situations has not weakened their determination to ensure that truth doesn’t become a casualty. There have always been issues and disagreements between the State and media but never before has the freedom of expression been virtually guillotined in any part of the country as it has been done in J&K for the past three years.
I am enclosing herewith copy of a questionnaire that has been served to the journalists who are being currently investigated by the State. You will note that apart from asking very irrelevant and personal questions it is based on the assumption that their personal ties and loyalties lie with anti-national networks. Unfortunately, this is a diabolical method to perpetuate the communal mindset throughout the country it order to gain political mileage and relevance by demeaning and marginalising an entire community.
One had hoped that the Press Council Of India would take a suo moto note to these widely reported incidents but it seems that no established watchdog forum, including the Courts, has taken any interest in the painful circumstances created in J&K, not to speak of any interventions. It, therefore, becomes incumbent upon me to urge you to send a fact-finding team to J&K, to independently verify these claims and take remedial action.”