Journalism

Images of Journalists being physically abused by armed forces surface in Kashmir, three reportedly detained

image courtesy: The Kashmir Walla.

Srinagar: Images of three journalists in Kashmir being physically assaulted by the Jammu and Kashmir police and Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) today surfaced. With journalists being assaulted and abused by the armed forces near the site of the gunfight on Wednesday, this incident of reporters being harassed and stopped from performing their professional duties is the second this week.

The three journalists working with Srinagar based Kashmir Walla, have reportedly been detained in Nawab Bazar area of Srinagar city. Eyewitnesses said that the forces beat them up badly and took them away in a Rakshak vehicle.

On Friday, as the clashes between youth and the armed forces were reported from some areas of the city, the three journalists were outside the office premises when the forces barged at them.

The three journalists are identified as Online News Editor of the Kashmir Walla, Saqib Mugloo, Features Writer, Kaiser Andrabi and Multimedia Journalist, Bhat Burhan.

Recently, journalists covering the gunfight in Fateh Kadal area of Srinagar city were physically assaulted and abused by the armed forces near the site of the gunfight.

The journalists were performing their professional duties when the SOG and CRPF personnel started hitting them. At least ten journalists were physically assaulted up by the forces.

While speaking to Free Press Kashmir, journalists who had been present at the scene said that they had been ‘beaten mercilessly in front of senior officers’.

“There was no stone pelting going on,” a journalist from news agency ABP told FPK spoke over the phone. “All of us were just standing there, reporting from the ground and talking to DIG Kashmir when suddenly, there was a lot of shouting by the security men and then they started beating us. My cameraman was first hit on his left elbow. While I tried to stop them, I was also beaten. The DIG tried to intervene, but they completely disregarded him. Then SP North Kashmir also started beating a few people. I’m not sure if they were journalists.”

However, another journalist from Hindustan Times confirmed to FPK that the SP had physically assaulted journalists. “SP Cargo also hit a few journalists,” the journalist added.

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“One of the SOG personnel threw the ABP journalist in the drain while we were taking photographs of the site,” said a journalist from India TV, while speaking to FPK.

“When he questioned him, they started lathi-charging all of us. The DIG tried to stop a lot of SOG personnel from hitting us, but they disregarded him. They also fired in the air to disperse us. After we assembled back, they stopped us from going forward to the gunfight spot.”

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Meanwhile, New York based independent watchdog, Committee to Protect Journalists and Kashmir Press Club condemned the ‘attack on journalists’. CPJ in a tweet, stated:

The Kashmir Press Club condemned the attack while further stating that one of the injured journalists was an executive member.

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“The KPC has expressed shock over this behavior by the forces. It hopes that the state administration will take note of this and act,” the statement read.

The president of the KPC, Mukhtiar Khan, while speaking to FPK said that the club had spoken to the journalists who had been physically assaulted and a press release would be issued soon.

 

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