SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said the media in Kashmir enjoys “absolute freedom”. He was responding to a question by a French Radio journalist during an interaction with media in Raj Bhawan lawns.
“According to a report by an international organisation, seven journalists in Kashmir were arrested on terror charges and for disrupting social harmony, not for their reporting,” Manoj Sinha said. “The numbers are 10 to 20 times higher anywhere else in the world.”
Sinha insisted there is an independent and active media in Jammu and Kashmir. “More than 400 newspapers are published here,” he added.
The foreign journalist, who apparently is part of the media junket accompanying the G20 delegates was earlier in news for asking about the closure of schools in earlier media interaction at SKICC on Monday.
Her question to Sinha was apparently based on a statement that US based media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) tweeted yesterday. “As #India holds a #G20 meeting on tourism in Kashmir, #pressfreedom remains under attack in the region,” the group said in a statement shared on Twitter on Monday. “CPJ calls on the Indian government to end its brutal crackdown on the media and immediately release the four arbitrarily detained Kashmiri journalists.” It mentioned the names of Asif Sultan, Fahad Shah, Sajad Gul and Irfan Mehraj.
