Lawmakers urged transparent media policy, fair ad distribution, and protection of press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the recently concluded week-long session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, a rare consensus emerged across party lines, not on power projects or roads, but on the quiet suffocation of the media. Three lawmakers, from three different political parties, used the Zero Hour, a space meant for the people’s voice, to flag what they saw as a deepening crisis for press freedom in the region. What unites their interventions is not just concern over the denial of government advertisements, but the warning that democracy cannot breathe where the press is made to kneel.
CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami set the tone when he questioned why even an elected government had failed to establish an independent and transparent media policy. He pointed out that India’s ranking on the Global Press Freedom Index has fallen to 166, and that Jammu and Kashmir fares even worse. His concern was not abstract. Four journalists, he reminded the Assembly, remain behind bars, while the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) appears paralysed, unable or unwilling to act independently. Tarigami’s call for restoring government advertisements to suspended newspapers was more than a financial appeal; it was a plea for democratic normalcy.
National Conference MLA Tanvir Sadiq took the argument further, asking the government to spell out whether the newspapers denied advertisements were “anti-national” or merely inconvenient. “If these newspapers are anti-national, then close them; if not, why this discrimination?” he asked. His words struck at the heart of an uncomfortable truth: the use of economic levers to control the editorial independence of media houses. For over five years, he said, several publications have been deprived of advertisements for “unknown reasons”. The Speaker’s assurance that he would take up the issue with the government only underlined how far accountability has slipped.
PDP legislator Waheed Parra added another layer to the debate, accusing the government of rewarding select newspapers while choking others. His remarks on the marginalisation of Urdu publications and the closure of independent digital platforms reflected the shrinking space for diverse voices. “This is nothing but an attempt to choke free media,” he said bluntly, reminding the House that press freedom is not a privilege, but a democratic necessity.
What these interventions reveal is the emergence of a troubling pattern, the use of state power to control narratives through selective patronage. A democracy that punishes criticism and rewards compliance is no democracy at all. The government must now do what every responsible government must: restore fairness, review the media policy, and ensure that advertisements are distributed transparently. A free press is not a favour from the state; it is the people’s right, and the government’s duty to protect it.
