Srinagar, January 24, 2022 (PPI-OT):Any true and real report by a journalist in occupied Jammu and Kashmir will face punitive action and reward under draconian black laws as was imposed on Journalist Sajad Gul in last week of this month.
This is exactly what has happened to Sajad Gul a Kashmiri reporter who has been sent behind bars under the black law Public Safety Act to Kothbalwal Jail Jammu.
The dossier issued against the reporter makes his purported less reporting about the so-called achievements of the Indian administration as one of the main grounds for action against him. It claims: He would “remain in search of anti-national/anti-social tweets and has remained a negative critique towards Kashmir Policies”.
The journalist was reporting the real ground situation, atrocities, killings, arrests and miseries of the people. What’s more, the authorities have labelled him and made case against him a messiah of “terrorists and their families” and would raise issues which harm the (so-called) national interests” all because he didn’t toe the Indian administration’s line and dictations.
Sajad Gul was first arrested on January 6 in his home district of Bandi[ora in the Valley after he posted a video of a family of a martyred youth airing their grouse against authorities. Though the court granted him bail days later, he was not let off. Instead the district magistrate brought black law PSA against him and he was shifted to a jail in Jammu, more than 350 km from his hometown, Hajin.
The PSA dossier describes him a “mere puppet under the banner of journalism” blaming and alleging him of having developed “relations with various anti-national gangs being operated from across (the) border” with the aim “destabilise” the puppet regime in the territory.
Under the black law PSA, the journalist Sajad Gul could be kept under detention for six months to two years without trial or formal charges until the high court quashes them.
Journalist Federation of Kashmir condemned the invocation of the black law PSA against Gul and urged the authorities to release him immediately. Journalists in Kashmir have been repeatedly said increased harassment in the form of cases, summons, questioning, and surveillance at the hands of authorities for their critical reporting for quite some time now.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org
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