Kashmir reportage curbs

POLICE in Kashmir have asked journalists to refrain from live coverage of gun battles with militants fighting Indian rule in the territory, calling such reports a provocation amounting to interference in their duties.

India has deployed tens of thousands of police and soldiers to keep the peace in the region after revoking its constitutional autonomy in 2019.

In an order last week, the police chief in the Kashmir Valley set out guidelines for journalists covering the insurgency.

“No operational content should be carried which is likely to incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order, or which promotes anti-national sentiment,” police chief Vijay Kumar said.

Media were also advised to stay away from the site of gunbattles or situations that shaped as a challenge to law and order, and not engage in live coverage, he added.

Kumar said journalists’ right to freedom of speech and expression was subject to reasonable curbs, so as not to endanger the lives of others or compromise national security.

“Do not interfere in the professional and bonafide duty of police and security forces at encounter sites,” he said. But journalists said the new rules were meant to coerce them into not reporting.

“Press freedom is the cornerstone of a democracy and any attack on it undermines the democratic setup,” the Kashmir Press Club said. “Any such attack on press freedom and journalism is highly distressful,” it added.