KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
The voices are getting shriller with each passing day seeking immediate removal of ban on the publication of English newspaper, Kashmir Reader.
It is eleventh day today that Kashmir Reader did not publish. On 2nd of October, Srinagar District Magistrate served an order to the printer and publisher of the Srinagar based newspaper directing him to cease the publication with immediate effect citing “contents published by the newspaper can incite violence” – the charge denied by its Editor.
The ban on Kashmir Reader has invited criticism worldwide.
On Thursday, scores of Journalists working in Kashmir held a protests demonstration in Mushtaq Ali Enclave (Press Enclave) seeking halt to attacks on media and immediate removal of ban on the English newspaper. On the next day, the ban order was served, Journalists held protests, took out solidarity marches in favour of the newspaper which continued for several days.
Speaking to reporters on the side-lines of the protest demonstration, senior Journalist, Zahir-ud-Din, said, “the ban on Kashmir Reader has exposed the government.”
“The ban on the (publication of) newspaper has exposed the claims of democracy in Kashmir,” he said.
The ban on the publication of the English newspaper is first such an extreme step in last three decades. However, subsequent governments in Kashmir have been banning publication of newspapers in Kashmir since 2008. The last three months saw government banning publishing of newspapers for four days.
Terming ban on the Kashmir Reader as “not any other gag”, the Editor of the newspaper said they had expected a “breakthrough” when Kashmir Editors Guild met Chief Minister on Oct 08.
Kashmir Editors Guild termed the government order, banning the newspaper, as “vague and unclear about the charges for which such a harsh step has been taken”
“Without taking recourse to any other institution in place like court, Information department, they (government) straight away banned the newspaper on a flimsy charge like inciting violence,” said Hilal Mir, the Editor.
Mir said that government has not specified “like which report they are referring”.
“It is amply clear from ban on a small newspaper that the so-called democratic institutions are in a crisis in Kashmir,” he added.
Decrying ban on the Kashmir Reader, scribes held solidarity marches in Lal Chowk last week seeking attention of the government.
On October 10, the Editors Guild of India asked the chief minister Ms Mehbooba Mufti to reconsider ban on the publication of the Kashmir Reader.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) too joined the course against the ban on the Kashmir Reader. In a statement on October 07, the Journalist forums said that they were “gravely” concerned over the “infringement” of press freedom.
“The ban on publication without proven evidence of incitement to violence, as the Kashmir Reader has been accused of, is censorship and against the principles of democracy and press freedom,” SAMSN said.
“In an already polarised situation,” the SAMSN had said, “the ban on the (Kashmir) Reader is arbitrary and goes against the democratic spirit of allowing a diversity of voices to flourish in the public domain.”
