NEW DELHI, 22 Aug: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has condemned the blocking of the website ‘The Kashmir Walla’ and its Facebook and Twitter accounts by the electronics and information & technology ministry under the IT Act, 2000 since last Saturday.
“The action is not only yet another reprisal attack on press freedom but belies the government’s claim of normalcy returning to the valley. The IJU demands that the news website and its social media accounts be unblocked immediately,” it said.
A statement issued by the portal said that, not only was the news website blocked on 19 August, its Facebook and Twitter accounts, “with nearly half a million followers,” have also been removed.
Its office in Srinagar has been served an eviction notice by the landlord and it’s in the process of vacating the premises.
The news site has been in existence since over the past 12 years and has “undergone a horrifying nightmare since past 18 months amid an already inhospitable climate for journalism in the region,” it said.
The statement added: “We have not been served any notice nor is there any official order regarding these actions that is in the public domain so far. This opaque censorship is gut-wrenching. There isn’t a lot left for us to say anymore. Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from authorities while we watched our being ripped apart, bit by bit.”
IJU President Geetartha Pathak and Secretary-General Sabina Inderjit said that the union has been following the harassment of journalists in the valley and had condemned the arrest of Fahad Shah in February 2022, “wherein he went on to be arrested five times within four months. Three FIRs under the stringent UAPA and one Public Safety Act have been registered against him.”
“He has been imprisoned in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail and a trainee reporter, Sajad Gul, is in prison in Uttar Pradesh under the Public Safety Act,” the duo said.
Condemning the undeclared censorship by the authorities, the IJU said that it is not only an attack on independent media in the valley but is denying the citizens their right to information to make a well-informed decision, a cornerstone of any democratic society.
The union added that “the Centre’s claim that there’s return of normalcy in the UT is not enough – its words must match actions, and the harassment of journalists and the media must end forthwith.”
