[Reader-list] Unannounced curbs on media in Jammu

[Shivam Vij शिवम् विज्]

Dear Pawan,

On 7 July I had posted a similar news article about an attack on
journalists in Srinagar. See
http://readerlist.freeflux.net/blog/archive/2008/07/07/reader-list-crpf-attacks-journalists-in-srinagar.html

This one that you post about Jammu claims that journalists have been
threatened ("Hurry up, turn or you will face the consequences"). But
in that case journalists were beaten up. I had in my post even pointed
out that such an attack in any other state capital would have received
attention in the national/Delhi media, over which my friend Aditya Raj
Kaul certainly has more influence than Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

You had replied that post of mine, thus: "Article 370......they live
with it ...they should die with it ...their
prefrence ....they have a separate constitution ,.....let them appeal under
RPC acts......."

Now I would have liked to respond to that, but I didn't because you
had made a grave personal accusation which caused some self-doubt. You
had written, "Your obsession is just too compulsive." I thought,
perhaps Pawan has a point after all - not about the Ranbir Penal Code
but about my being unable to see out of my box because of being
obsessed with it.

But now, you post an article about threats and "unannounced curbs" on
the media in another part of the state, Jammu, which is also governed
by the Ranbir rather than the Indian Penal Code. You not only
*condemn* an attack on journalists in Jammu despite Jammu also being
governed by the RPC, but also you go on to call upon *all* members of
this list in joining you in the act of condemnation of this reported
act of reporters being prevented from doing their job under duress.

Now I think that the Hindi press in Jammu is unabashedly communal, its
front-page headlines are more interested in stoking passions rather
than disseminating news. What else could you expect from papers like
Dainik Jagran, which have a documented record of causing deaths in
communal conflicts and aligning itself with the anti-Muslim RSS (
http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/searchdetail.php?sid=559&bg=1 ).

Now, despite this background, I join you in condemning these
unannounced curbs on the media in Jammu, if the report is true, no
matter what the magnitude of this exercise of conflict-related
censorship is. In other words, I am saying that I condemn this even if
the security personnel were instructed to do so only to prevent the
press from stoking further passions, causing more deaths and 'unrest'.

I condemn the act for the following reasons:

Firstly, I am against censorship unless it is being used to prevent
very imminent, direct violence. In this case I think what is required
is better regulatory mechanism than a toothless Press Council of India
to prevent papers like Dainik Jagran from stoking communal passions.

Secondly, even if I feel relieved that the police is preventing the
journalists with an honourable intention, I can't support the act for
reasons of consistency. For I can then not argue against censorship in
Srinagar by the CRPF, using actual violence to prevent publication of
reports about the protest outside the Hazratbal shrine. The Indian
state can justly claim that it was doing so because the journalists
and protesters were seeking/promoting secession.

To cut a long story short, would you please explain why you want us to
join you in condemning censorship and harassment of journalists in
Jammu even though you refused, on 7 July, to condemn the beating up of
journalists in Srinagar with lathis just because the state does not
follow the Indian Penal Code? I mean, why shouldn't we wait for India
establish "full flow of the Indian constitution" in Jammu *&* Kashmir
before we can condemn the violation of that Constitution - as is your
argument for Srinagar?

Every Kashmir-related post on this list that you find uncomfortable,
you either ignore it or just say, "You don't know the facts." You
don't by extension state what the alleged lie is and what the facts
are. But the least one expects is consistency from you. This
discrepancy amounts to intellectual dishonesty. It forces me to
conclude that you don't care if Muslim journalists are beaten to death
but you have every concern for Hindu journalists. Such blatantly
communal sentiments are not expected from someone who constantly
reminds us of having been on the receiving end of Kashmiri Muslim
communalism.

However, perhaps you have an explanation, and perhaps I am
over-reaction. I look forward to your response.

warmly,
shivam







On Sat, Aug 2, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
> Let us all condemn this act.
> http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/unannounced-curbs-on-media-in-jammu_10079039.html
>
> Unannounced curbs on media in Jammu
>
> Jammu, Aug 2 (IANS) "Sorry! Press is not allowed," that is the curt answer
> to the pleas of journalists who want to move in Jammu city to cover the
> ongoing riots over the Amarnath land row. Any other person with an identity
> card or a curfew pass is signaled to move on. But reporters are told: "Hurry
> up, turn or you will face the consequences."
>
> A group of reporters and cameramen trying to enter the walled city were
> stopped at Bikram Chowk Saturday and told to "go back".
>
> "These are the orders from the higher authorities, we cannot do anything," a
> police official on duty at the spot told the scribes.
>
> Journalists at many places like Rehari, Shakti Nagar, Parade, Pacca Danga
> and Link Road areas were not allowed to step out of their houses.
>
> There was no official word as to why the curbs were imposed on media.
>
> No official was available for comments and the phone calls went unanswered.
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