IOK: muzzled press

It is not surprising that an illegitimate regime is taking illegal actions against citizens that dare to speak up

The Indian regime in occupied Kashmir has sealed the Srinagar office of the respected local English newspaper Kashmir Times, the latest move in its efforts to crush any dissenting voices. This wasn’t even the first assault on the paper. Over the summer, the administration evicted Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin from her apartment in Jammu. News reports suggest that the local authorities did not even follow protocols such as issuing a warning or notice before taking any action against the paper.

Heinous though, it is not surprising that an illegal and illegitimate regime is taking illegal actions against citizens that dare to speak up. While Indian governments of the past also had their ups and downs with the local media, the current BJP era has seen almost all Kashmiri media either silenced or turned into government mouthpieces. Even constructive criticism is now treated as seditious speech. Indeed, some media outlets flatly repeated the local administration’s claims that the keys to the properties were handed over willingly, without even taking valuables and office materials inside. Bhasin flatly said that the officers who came to seal the office did not even have the legally-required eviction orders on hand when they arrived, but few outlets dared to quote her.

This even elicited a response from opposition political leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who noted that eviction without due process appears to be the BJP’s punishment for independent reporting which is why “our ‘esteemed’ publications have decided to become government mouthpieces, printing only government press handouts”. Other opposition leaders, some of whom have previously been targets of critique from the paper, also defended it for its fairness and consistency. For what it’s worth, international media and rights groups have universally denounced the Indian government. But as we know, their denunciation is meaningless. Most Indian citizens will not hear it on the ‘Godi media’.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2020.

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