'Stay at home for some time': J&K govt tells editors as death toll crosses 40

Srinagar: After partially suspending the mobile and internet in the valley, Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday confiscated copies of all leading English and vernacular newspapers during pre-dawn raids at their press offices in an undeclared information gag.

Cable TV operations also ceased in the valley on Friday after operators refused an official direction to block all news channels and air only entertainment ones.

The authorities have justified the media gag saying ‘some curbs’ were unavoidable to discourage ‘rumour-mongering’ which, they said, was ‘adding fuel to the fire’.

But several journalists and media people have pointed out that the clampdown would be counter-productive and would pave way for more rumour mongering as has been seen in the past.

“Better you stay at home for some time,” a senior minister in the PDP-BJP government reportedly said when media representatives took up the issue with the authorities.

Rashid Makhdoomi, the printer and publisher of Srinagar’s leading newspaper chain Greater Kashmir Communications, said that a party from Humhama Police Station raided its press office at Rangreth here at 2 am and confiscated all the 50,000 of Urdu daily Kashmir Uzma which had just been printed.

“They forced the technicians and other staff to stop printing our English daily Greater Kashmir and then took everything along. Also, the foreman, the machine-man and the driver were detained at the police station for three hours,” he said.

But recounting that the incident was not new, Syed Shujaat Bukhari, editor of Rising Kashmir, said “It is nothing new. We have seen such curbs before also and have, in fact, been through much worse. Similar gag was enforced in 2008 and 2010. But the only regret is that we are told ours is a democracy and we live under a democratic setup and newspapers and other media have to play a pivotal role towards strengthening democratic institutions.”

Notwithstanding the curfew, several journalists and media people gathered at the Mushtaq Press Enclave to protest the police abuse and asked the government to lift the gag immediately so that people are not denied their ‘Right to Know’. 

Meanwhile, a delegation of lawmakers led by CPIMs Muhammed Yusuf Tarigami met Governor, NN Vohra to express their “deep concern” over numerous hardships being faced by common man because of the excessive use of force in dealing with the protesters. “The delegation also expressed its anguish over the unwarranted gag on media which they feel will only encourage rumour mongering and is bound to prove counterproductive,” a statement issued here said.

Kashmir Valley is on the boil for past over one week in the aftermath of the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the new-age poster boy of insurgency, by the security forces. As many as 40 people have been killed and nearly two thousand wounded in firing by security forces in their attempts to contain widespread protests and stone-pelting.

At least, one policeman has also been killed and about 1,550 others, mainly the members of CRPF, were also injured in mob violence, in addition to damages to police stations and posts, the camps of various security forces and other infrastructure damaged.

Srinagar, the summer capital of the State, and other major town of the Kashmir Valley continue to reel under curfew and other security restrictions on the eighth consecutive day (Saturday). Media persons have been denied curfew passes in the official gag on information but without a formal order being issued.