Lawfare, National Security – Journalists

On January 26, Jammu & Kashmir’s police security wing stopped several media persons from covering the main Republic Day function in the summer capital of Srinagar, triggering protests by Kashmiri journalists and a series of condemnations from media bodies and organisations working for the protection of journalists across the world.

The police justified the move – a first of its kind in the past three decades of conflict in Kashmir – saying there was an “adverse report” from its CID wing against the journalists. But the development is being seen as part of the government’s attempts to scare the media into silence amid repeated attacks on freedom of the press in Kashmir.

While some of the blacklisted journalists had been surprisingly issued security clearance passes for covering the event days before, others hadn’t got the clearance at all. Almost all of them have been working in the field for decades, with national and international organisations.