Muzzling the press

Ban on Kashmir media dangerous and unwarranted

For three days, the authorities in the Kashmir Valley have cracked down on the publication of newspapers. Some of these editions can still be accessed on the newspapers' web sites - but mobile internet has also been shut down in the Valley, in addition to making print newspapers unavailable. There have also been reports that some newspaper offices have been raided, copies of newspapers seized and some employees arrested. Newspapers have claimed that their printing plates were confiscated by state police. These actions were not, reportedly, accompanied by any legal documentation - the newspapers' editors said that the police neither registered a case, nor disclosed any particular reason for seizing copies. This comes, of course, in the backdrop of protests in the valley following the killing of Hizb-ul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. It is also worth noting that in earlier periods of protest, in 2008 and in 2010, similar actions were taken by the Jammu and Kashmir state police, but this is the first time, according to a Kashmir-based newspaper editor quoted on The Wire web site, that the media has been "formally asked" to not publish. The movement of newspaper staff has also been curtailed. The Editors' Guild of India, in a statement, has correctly called this an "unwarranted muzzling". The statement condemns the "detention and harassment" of journalists and has said that the two main English-language newspapers in the Valley, Greater Kashmir and Rising Kashmir, "are run by responsible editors and report events with sobriety". It is indeed hard to disagree with the Editors Guild when it says that this is a "direct assault on the freedom of the press in India".

It is in fact at moments of crisis like the current disturbed period in Kashmir that responsible news-gathering becomes most important. In the absence of clear and accountable editorial control and the journalistic ethics with which most newspapers operate, the field is left free for dangerous and inaccurate rumours to be spread and be believed. It is important to remember that the period of militancy, ethnic cleansing and counter-insurgency violence in Kashmir from 1990 onwards began with such rumours. The state government - a coalition between the Valley-based Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is also in power at the Centre - surely does not want rumours to take the place of news, and inflame an already tense situation. From the point of view of restoring calm, the media blackout should be lifted immediately.

It is not just a question of it being the sensible thing to do to stop the muzzling of the press - it is also the right thing to do. Basic civil liberties should not be suspended in disturbed areas; this was the spirit underlying the recent Supreme Court judgment on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The right to freedom of expression, which underlies the freedom of the press, should not be suspended arbitrarily. What is even more worrying is if other state governments start taking a cue from the Jammu and Kashmir state government and also start shutting down the printing of newspapers when civil disturbances rage. In the name of both common sense and constitutional values, the Jammu and Kashmir state government must immediately lift its ban on the media.