Srinagar: The Government of India’s special representative on Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, has requested Home Minister Rajnath Singh to convene a meeting with authorities of certain television news channels to ask them to be careful against spreading “vicious propaganda” against Kashmiris, the Hindu reported on Thursday.
The daily quoted a senior source saying on Wednesday that at least four news channels routinely aired stories exaggerating events in the Kashmir Valley, defeating the dialogue and peace process initiated by New Delhi. The meeting with the channel representatives would be convened shortly, the source said.
Another official, however, said the GoI would tread cautiously on the subject as it did not want to impinge on the “freedom of the press”, the daily reported.
“Sometimes these channels are just making a mountain out of a molehill. Many times, the debates are vitriolic and are distant from facts on the ground. This gives fodder to secessionist forces in the Kashmir Valley to sow hatred against the government,” the Hindu quoted a senior Home Ministry official as saying.
