Islamabad, August 01, 2022 (PPI-OT):Journalism in India will be a thing of the past if the world fails to prevent the Modi-government’s onslaught against the journalist community in India. Journalists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority territory, presently under New Delhi’s occupation, are disproportionately affected by frequent summons to local police stations and background profiling, among other forms of censorship.
According to a story published in The Wire, in the past two years at least 40 Kashmiri journalists have been called for “background checks,” summoned to explain their work and social media conduct. Several Kashmiri journalists are also barred from traveling abroad as per the report. At least six Kashmiri journalists have been formally charged with terrorism.
As per a BBC report on the state of journalism in IIOJK under Modi’s India: “Is it a crime for media to report statements of relatives of a dead person if they question a post-mortem or police version of the cause of death?”
Last year India dropped two places and was ranked 142 on the 180-country World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders.
Citing attacks on journalists in India, the BBC report further said, “Many believe India is becoming unsafe for journalists. Sixty-seven journalists were arrested and nearly 200 physically attacked in 2020, according to a study by Geeta Seshu for the Free Speech Collective. A journalist, who was on his way to cover the gang rape of a girl in Uttar Pradesh state, has been in jail for five months.”
Delhi-based freelance journalist Neha Dixit says she has been “stalked, openly threatened with rape and murder, viciously trolled”, and an attempt made to break into her apartment. This week, the police arrested a law student for allegedly sending death and rape threats to Rohini Singh, another freelance journalist.
Journalists who refused to be silenced found themselves under attack. Fahad Shah, an independent journalist and editor from Kashmir, was charged under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), an anti-terrorism law that can put him in jail for two years without trial for reporting on the government’s crackdown on the Muslim community in Kashmir.
In this war on journalism, the Modi regime is attacking journalists not only through intimidation tactics but also by a systematic assault from government sympathizers and their social media army. Online threats and social media harassment is a package deal for female journalists in India, with the sole purpose of gagging free media in the country.
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