Qayoom Wani calls for rollback of orders of office vacating for newspapers, ban on ads in Kashmir

Says targeting leading newspapers, news agencies by one or other pretension undemocratic

Says targeting leading newspapers, news agencies by one or other pretension undemocratic

Srinagar, Nov 19 (KNS): Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society Forum Friday expressed anguish over what it called the forced shrinking of freedom of press in Kashmir. 

In a statement, issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), while reacting to the treatment given to the local press in JK by virtue of forcing them to vacate their functional offices and stopping advertisements, chairman JKCSF, Abdul Qayoom Wani said that targeting number of leading newspapers in Kashmir by one or the other pretention was merely undemocratic and autocratic. 

Wani said first the government stopped advertisements to a number of leading newspapers including Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Images, Kashmir Reader, Kashmir Life and even the leading News agency of JK Kashmir News Service was not spared. 

“As if this was not sufficient, now Estates Department has asked the prominent Newspaper Greater Kashmir to vacate its office from Press Enclave. This is indeed a new tyranny with the freedom of press. Journalists and media houses have been working in Jammu and Kashmir in a very tough situation and have suffered the loss of life and property like every other Kashmiri suffered, however, despite all troubles and odds this sector has kept up the status of professionalism and has acted as a bridge between the people and the successive governments to apprise either sides with the facts and figures of the reality.”

The statement reads that journalism, Media or call it press is deemed as the fourth pillar of democracy, and once a pillar acts or is made to act weakly, it badly stains the whole system of democracy. 

“Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Images, Kashmir Reader, Kashmir Life, Kashmir Times, Kashmir News Service and others all have worked in tough times but maintained standards of journalism and contributed to overall development serving their stuff to education, health, pandemic, employment, eradication of evils and corruption from the society and what not,” it reads.

JKCSF also called for the removal of ban on the advertisements for these newspapers, rollback of orders of vacation from their offices for a free and fair environment for this fourth estate to serve the common people in Jammu and Kashmir. (KNS)

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