Bharat Bhushan: Media persecution in J&K is a misguided venture
The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration and the security forces are doing themselves a great disservice by creating an extremely coercive eco-system for journalists in the Union Territory (UT). Those administering the UT are rapidly losing out on the critical feedback that could make the system more stable. An apocryphal story amongst journalists in Srinagar is that a senior official holds that of "five Ms" that are the 'cause' of the Kashmir issue - Masses, Mosques, Maulavis, Militants and Media, all have been tamed in the last year except the media. People have been prevented from reaching out to the media as they had begun to do by staging protests outside Srinagar's Press Colony.
Local journalists in
Srinagar claim that they are routinely questioned about their sources, and if
they refuse to reveal them, their reports are dubbed 'fake news'. They allege
that the security forces often ask journalists to hand over their cell phones
to examine their call records. This has curtailed source-based reporting in the
Valley. Even the social media accounts of journalists are closely monitored,
and they are questioned about their posts even if they relate to public
grievances.
This coercive attitude
towards the media has been amplified by the recent arrest, bail and subsequent
re-arrest of two journalists – Sajjad Gul and Fahad Shah. Gul, a trainee
reporter with 'The Kashmir Walla' news site, was arrested on January 6 after he
posted a video of a protest outside the home of a militant killed in an
encounter with the security forces. He was accused of misusing journalism to
"spread disinformation and false narratives" on social media in a bid
to make people "resort to violence". When he was granted bail, he was
promptly re-arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act, allowing the
administration to keep him in jail without trial for up to two years.
Fahad Shah,
editor-in-chief of 'The Kashmir Walla', was arrested under UAPA (Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act) on February 4 for his social media posts termed
"anti-national" by Pulwama Police. When he was granted bail on
February 26 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, he was
immediately arrested by police from another district, Shopian, in another case
of provoking riots. A week later when he got bail, he was re-arrested yet again,
this time by Srinagar police on charges of defamation, public mischief and
UAPA. On March 14, afraid that he would be granted bail, the police detained
Shah under PSA, a favourite mode by which the J&K administration can avoid
due judicial processes.
The Kashmir Times is a
reputed newspaper whose editor took an adversarial position on the Centre's
policy towards the erstwhile state. The paper was silenced by using the Estates
Department to seal its offices in Srinagar and reopening income tax cases going
back nearly three decades. The bank accounts of the newspaper and its editor
were sealed. The editor is now occupied with attending courts every day, and
the newspaper is unable to print its hard-copy edition regularly.
These are not exceptional cases. Journalists are routinely summoned and questioned in the Kashmir Valley. Noted senior journalist Ashiq Peerzada of The Hindu had two FIRs lodged against him and was questioned by the Cyber Police for a report. Freelance photographer Masrat Zahra was charged under UAPA by the Cyber Police for allegedly uploading "anti-national" social media posts.
Such is
the terror of the administration that apprehensive of being locked up, even
author and journalist Gowhar Geelani was forced to go on the run after an
arrest warrant was issued for not appearing before a Tehsildar to sign a bond
committing to maintaining peace. A lot of learning in journalism takes place
through interaction with one's peer group as well as senior journalists.
Instead of encouraging such interaction, the administration used a putative
coup against the office bearers of the Kashmir Press Club to seal the club and
take over the building which housed it.
Almost every
journalist of repute complains of surveillance and monitoring by the state.
Journalists are told not to report the version of the family members of
victims/militants who are killed in encounters with the security forces. The
extent to which the administration's suspicion of the media is evident from the
instance of a journalist, who recalled being asked by an army officer before an
interview, "First, tell me whether you consider yourself an Indian citizen
or not."
Simultaneously, the
police and the security forces are apparently creating a new group of
"influencers" on social media who target reporters working for the
national or foreign media. The adversarial attitude of the administration is
justified as preventing 'misuse of journalism' by militants. If the aim of the
UT administration is to drain the swamp of misinformation and disinformation in
a conflict zone, then it must ask itself whether this is the best way to
achieve that goal.
Preparing background
notes on journalists listing the name of their parents, siblings, spouses, bank
accounts, property owned, and often, even ideology is clearly intimidatory
tactics. These BGs (background notes) are then used to categorise journalists
so that the administration can decide whether to deny or give them access.
The best method of
countering misinformation and disinformation is by setting in place a
rule-bound and collaborative accreditation process to recognise serious
journalistic practitioners and ease their access to the administration. Yet in
J&K, especially in the Valley, the administration, suffering from a siege
mentality, is shutting out journalists and using draconian methods to deal with
inconvenient reportage. It is important that the "managed" news now
emerging is displaced by news that is credible, evidence-based and which
highlights different facets of truth. The quest for one truth, one version and
the promotion of fake normalcy by the J&K administration is destined to
fail. An attempt at homogenising journalism to report only the official version
of events will never bring normalcy.
(The writer is an independent journalist based in Delhi. He was recently in J&K)
https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/opinion/media-persecution-in-jk-is-a-misguided-venture-1096616.html
A mighty
heart - The death and life of Gauri Lankesh // Virago, not martyr
Anna
Politkovskaya Award shared by Pakistani Activist and Gauri Lankesh
RAGHU
KARNAD: Indian Liberals Must Die. Gauri Lankesh and the vernacular Indian left
The
eloquence of silence - The choice is between speaking up and keeping quiet. By
Samantak Das
Journalist
gets threat for criticising a Modi Govt scheme. Is reminded of Gauri Lankesh's
fate
Gauri
Lankesh’s Kannada news website banned by Facebook?
Edward
Snowden - Everything Going Great: Bad Faith, Worse News and Julian Assange
Prominent
Kashmiri Pandit businessman shot dead in Srinagar
Yoginder Khandari on the plight of Non-Migrant
Kashmiri Pandits / Hindus living in Kashmir Valley
'In solidarity with all Kashmiri students':
An appeal by a group of Kashmiri Pandits
Superflous people - review of 'Our Moon has blood clots'
Mansoor Anwar on Comrade Abdul Sattar Ranjoor
P. B.
Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal
