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Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir have arrested a younger journalist on accusations of publishing “anti-national content material,” police stated, in a widening crackdown towards media within the disputed area.
Fahad Shah, the editor of stories portal Kashmir Walla, was summoned for questioning at a police station in southern Pulwama city on Friday and later arrested there, police stated.
In a press release late Friday confirming Shah’s arrest, police stated he was recognized amongst “some Fb customers and portals” that had printed “anti-national content material,” with out specifying the content material. It stated such content material was posted with “felony intention to create worry amongst (the) public” and will “provoke the general public to disturb regulation & order.” It additionally stated such content material was “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist actions.”
The case pertains to a gunfight between rebels trapped inside a civilian house and Indian troops in Pulwama on Jan. 30. Police had stated a Kashmiri insurgent commander was killed within the combating together with a Pakistani militant and one other native militant. They described the fourth slain teenage boy, the house-owner’s son, as a “hybrid” militant, a time period authorities started utilizing final 12 months for alleged militants with no police document and who function as civilians.
Kashmir Walla carried a sequence of experiences following the gunfight, presenting either side of the story. One video report quoted members of the family of the slain teenage boy refuting the police declare. One other video quoted the boy’s sister contradicting an earlier assertion from the household.
Shah was arrested below India’s harsh anti-terror and sedition legal guidelines, which embody punishment of as much as seven years.
Shah and different reporters related to Kashmir Walla have been questioned for his or her reporting by police a number of instances in the previous couple of years.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and each declare it in full. Since 1989, a full-blown armed revolt has raged in Indian-controlled Kashmir looking for a united Kashmir — both below Pakistani rule or impartial of each international locations.
The area is without doubt one of the most closely militarized on this planet. Tens of 1000’s of civilians, rebels and authorities forces have been killed within the raging battle.
Journalists have lengthy contended with varied threats in Indian-controlled Kashmir and located themselves caught between warring sides. However their scenario has gotten dramatically worse since India revoked the area’s semi-autonomy in 2019, throwing Kashmir below a extreme safety and communication lockdown and the media in a black gap. A 12 months later, the federal government’s new media coverage sought to manage the press extra successfully to censure impartial reporting.
Dozens have been arrested, interrogated and investigated below harsh anti-terror legal guidelines. Fearing reprisals, native press has largely wilted below strain.
There have been press crackdowns within the area earlier than, particularly during times of mass public uprisings. However the ongoing crackdown is notably worse.
Final month, police arrested journalist Sajad Gul after his single tweet linked a video clip of a protest towards Indian rule, following a Kashmiri insurgent’s killing.
Additionally in January, a number of journalists supportive of the Indian authorities, with help from armed police, took management of the Kashmir Valley’s solely impartial press membership. Authorities shut it down a day later, drawing sharp criticism from journalist our bodies.
In the meantime, the New York-based Committee to Defend Journalists requested Indian authorities to “instantly and unconditionally” launch Shah and “drop any investigation into his work and stop detaining members of the press.”
Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, stated in a press release the arrest “reveals Jammu and Kashmir authorities’ utter disregard for press freedom and the basic proper of journalists to report freely and safely.”
“Authorities should instantly launch Shah, and all different journalists behind bars, and stop detaining and harassing journalists for merely doing their jobs,” he stated.
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