Police in Indian-administered Kashmir threaten to provoke authorized motion in opposition to the British broadcaster for reporting on media crackdown in disputed area.

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have “strongly objected” to an article printed by the BBC on press freedom within the Muslim-majority area and have threatened to take authorized motion for “unfairly castigating” its work.

The report by the British broadcaster, headlined “Any story could be your last” – India’s crackdown on Kashmir press, was printed on Friday and highlights the case of a number of Kashmiri journalists incarcerated on “terrorism” costs, below which bail is tough to get. The report additionally paperwork the day-to-day harassment and intimidation different journalists have confronted from safety forces.

“The article unfairly castigates efforts of J&K Police in maintaining law and order and security in J&K as biased against journalists,” the Jammu and Kashmir Police stated in a submit on X, previously often known as Twitter.

The police “condemned” the try by the BBC to misrepresent the scenario on the bottom, including that it maintains “the highest standards of professionalism”.

Rebuttal

J&Ok Police strongly objects to an article printed by the BBC on 1 September 2023, “Any story could be your last – India’s crackdown on Kashmir Press” by Yogita Limaye. The article unfairly castigates efforts of J&Ok Police in sustaining regulation and order and safety in…

— J&Ok Police (@JmuKmrPolice) September 2, 2023

The yearlong investigation by the BBC was printed simply weeks after an impartial Kashmiri information outlet, The Kashmir Walla, stated Indian authorities had blocked entry to its web site.

Various Kashmiri journalists have been arrested, questioned and investigated in relation to their work since India’s Hindu nationalist authorities scrapped the area’s semi-autonomous standing in 2019 as a part of its efforts to combine the disputed territory into the remainder of the nation.

Anti-India sentiment runs excessive within the Himalayan area, which has seen a bloody rise up because the late Eighties. The rebels both need Kashmir to be impartial or merged into neighbouring Pakistan.

India has accused Pakistan of backing the rebels, a cost Islamabad has denied.

New Delhi says its unprecedented motion in 2019 was aimed toward rooting out “terrorism” from the territory, which is claimed by each India and Pakistan. Each of the 2 arch-foes administer components of it. They have fought two of their three wars over the area since gaining independence from the British in 1947.

‘Sinister campaign’

The BBC stated its reporter spoke to greater than two dozen Kashmir journalists for the article. They included editors and reporters working for impartial and nationwide media organisations.

“The BBC has spent more than a year investigating accusations against the Indian government that it is running a sinister and systematic campaign to intimidate and silence the press in the region,” the broadcaster stated.

“We had to meet journalists in secret, and they asked for their names to be hidden, fearing reprisals.”

All of these interviewed stated the federal government’s arbitrary arrests of media personalities was to ship all journalists a “warning”.

One of the circumstances highlighted by the UK outlet was that of Aasif Sultan, who labored as an assistant editor for a Srinagar-based English journal.

Sultan has been in jail since August 2018 below the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, and is accused of “harbouring known militants”, an allegation he denies.

He has additionally been charged with homicide, try to homicide and different crimes.

The case of Fahad Shah – founding editor of The Kashmir Walla, who was arrested by Indian police below an “anti-terror” regulation final 12 months in February – can also be detailed within the report.

He was accused of “glorifying terrorism” and “spreading fake news”. In their submit on X, the Kashmir police defended Shah’s arrest.

“It is pertinent to mention that one of the cases mentioned, … that of Fahad Shah, is one where a trial is already ongoing … and the court has already framed charges against him under the UAPA for providing terror sympathisers a platform for advocating terrorism,” the police stated.

This 12 months, the media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists stated 62 journalists have been killed in India in reference to their work since 1992.

Indian-administered Kashmir witnessed extra web shutdowns than every other nation on the planet final 12 months, in response to Surfshark, a digital non-public community supplier.

India has slipped within the press freedom index since Prime Minister Narendra Modi got here to energy in 2014. It ranks at 161 in an inventory of 180 nations.