Beatings and restrictions in Kashmir

BILAL HUSSAIN

In the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, journalists were subjected to major restrictions from 7 to 9 July because of a curfew imposed by the police and army in response to a wave of demonstrations and unrest. Reporters were unable to move about in the summer capital, Srinagar, because the local authorities cancelled their curfew passes. No newspapers were published on 10 July in protest against the restrictions.
Several incidents involving journalists were reported in connection with the demonstrations. Members of the Central Reserve Police Force beat 12 journalists covering a demonstration on 6 July. On the same day, Izhar Wani of Agence France-Presse wanted to rush home after being told that his wife and daughters had fainted from the effects of all the tea-gas discharged in the area. But he was prevented because his pass had been cancelled.
Mark Magnier of the Los Angeles Times was hit by a police officer near Srinagar’s Lake Dal on 7 July. Riyaz Masroor of the BBC’s Urdu-language service sustained a fracture to his left hand when policemen hit him on 9 July. “I left my home because the Department of Information called me to collect my pass, but policemen on the street attacked me with batons,” Masroor said.
Suhail Bukhari of the TV station NewsX was arrested on 10 July after getting his facts wrong in a report. He and the station apologised for the mistake but they are facing the possibility of being prosecuted on a charge of inciting violence.
As a result of the protests and unrest in Kashmir, the authorities imposed new restrictions on the free flow of information: censorship of local cable TV stations, censorship of certain Facebook pages and restrictions on mobile phones during the demonstrations. The newspaper Greater Kashmir reported that the organisers of a Facebook group were summoned for questioning by the police for posting reports and video footage of the rioting in Srinagar.