Information gag in Srinagar
Cable TV blocked but resumes later; 1 more killed, toll 41; 2 more hurt
Srinagar: The police on Saturday confiscated copies of all leading English and vernacular newspapers in Srinagar during pre- dawn raids at their press offices in an undeclared information gag, which also partially shut down Internet and cellular phone services. Full report on
The police on Saturday confiscated copies of all leading English and vernacular newspapers in Srinagar during pre- dawn raids at their press offices in an undeclared information gag, which has also partially shut down Internet and cellular phone services.
Meanwhile, one more person was on Saturday killed and two others were injured in security forces’ firing on protesters at Hatmulla, in the frontier district of Kupwara. The police said the mob attacked a police post in the area and “while dealing with the situation, three people were injured, one of whom later succumbed”.
Earlier on Friday night, cable TV operators were asked to close services after they refused to block news channels and air only entertainment ones as had been suggested to them by authorities. They were, however, allowed to resume work late Saturday evening but told to block Pakistani and other illegal channels. Local news TV channels were banned during the unrest in summer 2010 which claimed 112 lives in police firings and other actions.
The scenic Kashmir Valley has been on the boil for over one week in the aftermath of the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the new- age poster boy of insurgency, by the security forces. As many as 41 people have been killed and nearly two thousand wounded in security forces firings and other actions in their attempts to contain widespread protests and stone- pelting incidents.
Authorities say at least one policeman has also been killed and about 1,550 others, mainly members of the CRPF, injured in mob violence, which has also left several police stations and posts, the camps of various security forces and other infrastructure damaged.
Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, and other major town of the Kashmir Valley continued to reel under curfew and other security restrictions on the eighth consecutive day ( Saturday). A statement issued by the police here said that “stray and intermittent incidents” of stone- pelting were reported from Pothkhah and Dangiwacha in Baramulla and Hatmulla and Langaet areas in frontier Kupwara districts. It also said that an “unruly mob” torched a police guardroom at Wullar Vintage Park in Bandipora district.
Authorities have justified the official gag on media for which no formal order has been issued. Privately, they said “certain curbs” were unavoidable in order to discourage “rumour- mongering” which, they insisted, was “adding fuel to the fire”. A senior minister in the PDP- BJP government who was approached by media representatives following the raid on newspapers told them, “Better you stay at home for some time.” A senior editor who spoke to the minister said that he told him that, in view of apprehensions of serious trouble and attempts likely to be made to subvert peace, strict curfew will be enforced and that in such situation movement of newspaper staff and distribution of newspapers will not be possible.