Srinagar: Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) on Monday asked the Jammu and Kashmir Police to make public charges against a magazine journalist Aasif Sultan who was formally arrested after six-day detention. They asked police to not hide behind vague words like ‘incriminating material’.
KEG said that freedom of speech cannot be suspended even if the assembly is in suspended animation.
“While the newspapers have routinely started getting ‘notices’ to explain things that have gone into print, there are very disturbing reports about reporters being asked to disclose sources, something that has not happened even during the emergency,” they journalist body said.
Recently a magazine journalist Ausif Sultan was detained and police have registered a formal FIR after retaining him for six days.
KEG believes while the police must make public the charges against him, the statement issued said.
“The “incriminating material”, the police have stated in a routine statement is too vague to be accepted as a reason. The law enforcing agencies must understand the reality that every journalist’s laptop will have “incriminating” material because data collection is the fundamental activity of the reporters.
In this case, KEG reiterated that a reporter cannot be forced to reveal his sources and it is considered illegal across the democracies of the world,” they demanded.
According to KEG while the social media has the power of disrupting the routine life – as happened on August 30, on the issue of Article 35(A) hearing, the emphasis of all the stakeholders must be to strengthen the formal media.
“It was media and not the police force that helped cool the situation by reporting the actual happening in the Supreme Court,” read the statement .
The editor’s body regretted that “certain law enforcing agencies are not understanding the net difference and are attempting using the same stick for all”, which can add to the crisis.
“The law enforcing agencies must keep this in mind while overreacting to the writing that come from the other side of the political divide. This, the members said, is essential in reducing the pressure cooker situation that is gradually building in Kashmir at huge social, economic and human costs,” it said, adding that they regretted that the police have not been able to file a charge sheet in the broad daylight murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, so far.
“This was despite the fact that the police claimed to have solved the case,” it said.
