Kashmiri journalists describe new government tactics to control the narrative
In April, after Srinagar-based senior journalist Peerzada Ashiq published an article about the families of two militants who wanted to exhume their bodies to perform funeral rites, police in Kashmir launched an investigation and accused him of publishing “fake news.” Ashiq told CPJ that he had sought official comment on multiple channels, but never received…
Jammu and Kashmir authorities detain journalist and editor Qazi Shibli
New Delhi, August 1, 2020 — Jammu and Kashmir police must immediately release Qazi Shibli, editor of news website The Kashmiriyat, from custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Shibli was detained at the Shergarh police station in Srinagar yesterday after questioning by the police’s cybercrime division, according to news reports and a member…
Kashmiri journalist Raihana Maqbool on reporting on COVID-19 amid ongoing restrictions
Journalists in Jammu and Kashmir have spent the past eight months navigating an intense crackdown by Indian authorities in the region, including unprecedented restrictions on communications and the longest internet shutdown in a democracy. Now, they have the added challenge on trying to report on the COVID-19 pandemic. India has instituted a strict 21-day national…
Jammu and Kashmir police question three journalists amid social media ban
New Delhi, February 19, 2020—Jammu and Kashmir police have summoned three journalists this month, including photojournalist Kamran Yousuf, who was questioned about social media activity, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. In January, after a lengthy communications shutdown in the region, the Indian government restored access to under 1500 “white-listed” websites, not including social…
Kashmiri journalists, news outlets still offline after India partially restores internet
New York, January 28, 2020—Internet access was partially restored in most of Jammu and Kashmir on January 25, but service remained slow and social media platforms and many local news websites remain blocked, The New York Times and other outlets reported. In a statement circulated to CPJ and news outlets, the Kashmir Press Club said…
India should restore internet in Kashmir as court orders shutdown review
New York, January 10, 2020–The Indian Supreme Court ordered a review of the legal process used to implement the ongoing shutdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir today. The ruling affirmed that freedom of speech “using the medium of internet is constitutionally protected.”
India uses opaque legal process to suppress Kashmiri journalism, commentary on Twitter
On August 10, 2018, the Indian government informed Twitter that an account belonging to Kashmir Narrator, a magazine based in Jammu and Kashmir, was breaking Indian law. The magazine had recently published a cover story on a Kashmiri militant who fought against Indian rule. By the end of the month, Indian police had arrested the…
Kashmiri media on the brink of extinction
On August 5, the Indian government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a strict communication blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after stripping the state of its limited autonomous status under the Indian constitution. As restrictions continue, CPJ’s India correspondent, Kunal Majumder, traveled to Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city, to speak to local journalists and find…