Jammu and Kashmir authorities sealed off the Srinagar office of the Kashmir Times, one of the region’s oldest and most prominent English-language newspapers, the publication said on Tuesday. Political parties and journalists criticized the move, but the state heritage department said the facility was not being used as an office, but as a residence for the newspaper’s employees.
The action came a week after a house assigned to Anuradha Bhasi, the newspaper’s executive editor, in Jammu was reassigned to the brother of a former legislator by the Jammu and Kashmir State Department.
“Today, the State Department closed our office without any cancellation and eviction due process, in the same way that I was evicted from an apartment in Jammu, where my belongings, including valuables, were turned over to a ‘new assignee.’ “Bhasin, 52, wrote on Twitter Monday.
Vendetta for speaking! Due process was not followed. How moody! ”He added.
Bhasin has openly criticized the government for restrictions on communications when the Center, on August 5, 2019, pushed for constitutional changes stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, and reorganizing the state in two. Union 0 territories – J&K and Ladakh.
He filed a petition in the high court demanding the reestablishment of communications and measures to ensure the free and safe movement of media personnel. It was because of his request that the court in January ordered the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review the communications restrictions every week.
On its website, the newspaper wrote that his office in a government building in the Press Enclave that houses several other newspaper offices was “sealed without providing any notice of cancellation or eviction to the Kashmir Times or following due process of law.”
“The Estates Department employees who came to the office to close it told Kashmir Times staff who worked inside to move out. When the management of the Kashmir Times asked for the warrants, the Treasury Department officials said they had no warrants and asked them to approach superior officers, “he said in a news report.
Mohammad Aslam, deputy director of the Estates Department, said the newspaper occupied two premises in the Press Enclave, one of which was taken over by the department “amicably.”
He said the facilities that were taken had been assigned to the late Ved Bhasin, founder of the Kashmir Times and father of Anuradha Bhasin, on an individual basis and after his death in2015, his assignment had expired and was canceled.
“Your office is operating in another quarter, whereas this quarter it was not under the name of the Kashmir Times. His employees used him for residential purposes and we requested his vacation about two or three months ago. Yesterday, they delivered the installation themselves, “he added.
Political parties and journalists demonstrated in support of the Kashmir Times and Anuradha Bhasin.
Former Prime Minister and leader of the People’s Democratic Party, Mehbboba Mufti, wrote on Twitter: “Anuradha was one of the few local newspaper editors at J&K who faced the illegal and disruptive actions of the government of India (the government of India ) in the state. Closing their Srinagar office comes straight from BJP’s {Bharatiya Janata Party} vendetta playbook to settle scores with those who dare to dissent. “
Another former prime minister and leader of the National Conference, Omar Abdullah, wrote on Twitter: “This explains why some of our ‘esteemed’ publications have decided to become government spokespersons, printing only government press brochures. The price of independent reporting is being evicted without due process. “
A group of 11 journalists offered their professional services free of charge to the Kashmir Times to support its editorial team in sustaining “the newspaper in these difficult times.”
“We are aware that the Kashmir Times and its publisher have been at the forefront of the fight against government restrictions on communications and press freedom in Kashmir, especially after the crackdown on August 5 last year, when most of the local press found itself deficient in reporting. , choosing silence over telling the truth to power. “
“In view of these government-sponsored intimidation attempts to silence an independent newspaper, we express our solidarity and support to its editors and our colleagues there,” the journalists said in a statement.
The Kashmir Publishers Guild (KEG) said it regretted the closure of the Kashmir Times office.
“The Guild sees the sealing as the continuation of an abnormality that has applied to the Kashmiri media for a long time, especially since 2010. In the last 10 years, successive regimes have created a very unpleasant history in terms of operations. of the media in Kashmir concerned. Preventing the circulation of newspapers, blacklisting newspapers from receiving government advertisements in Srinagar and Delhi, and negatively disrupting routine operations have had an adverse impact on the media. These add to the problems journalists face on a daily basis while gathering information, ”he said in a statement.
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