SrinagarKashmir Editors Guild (KEG), an organisation of the editors of the newspapers published in Kashmir on Tuesday strongly reacted to the new definition of a journalist by National Investigation Agency (NIA) detailed in the chargesheet of incarcerated Kashmir photo-journalist Kamran Yousuf.
If the cops are supposed to define the roles and responsibilities of the journalists, which manage the fourth pillar of democracy, the universities that train thousands of journalists in a year across India must be locked, the statement said. Re-defining journalism is usually been seen as an effort by totalitarian and dictatorial regimes and not democracies.
Not covering developmental activity of any government department or inauguration of a hospital or a school or statement of any political party in power are some of the reasons the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has listed as evidence that Kamran Yusuf was not a real journalist. The observations by the NIA are part of the chargesheet into the terror funding and stone pelting in the Valley filed on January 18 against 12 people including Yusuf, a free-lance photojournalist arrested on September 5 for his alleged involvement in stone-pelting incidents.
KEG reiterated that Kamran Yousuf has been a news photographer who was freelancing with various media outlets. The editors sought his early release and have continuously insisted that Yousuf requires a fair trial. It has been a long time since Yousufs arrest that the investigators have probed almost all angles of his supposed involvement. So far, nothing has been proved as the charge sheet suggests, the statement said. It is high time that Yousuf is permitted to move out of jail and resume his routine and help his mother, the only relation he has, in surviving honourably, the editors said. His release will contribute to the strengthening of democracy and right to free speech.
Similarly, the Kashmir Working Journalists Association (KWJA) also condemned the continuous incarceration of photojournalist Kamran Yousuf, alleging that he (Kamran Yousuf) is being victimised only for carrying out his professional duties that somehow embarrassed the government. The photojournalist has been in detention for the past 169 days. KWJA statement said that Kamrans arrest and framing is aimed only to muzzle the press in Kashmir, and that all charges against him are baseless and motivated.
At the same time, the statement said KWJA is also aghast at the efforts of National Investigation Agency (NIA) to define the working of a journalist. The pathetic standards of journalism that NIA aims to thrust are not just childishly naive but also reflect a dangerous conspiracy to dis-empower the fourth estate, the statement said.
We strongly contest NIAs definition of journalism and affirm that it is not the job of a journalist to cover bridge inaugurations or birthday parties of government and political functionaries, and If NIA does not understand the basics that separate PR from journalism, it puts its own investigating capabilities into question, the statement said. The KWJA, in its statement said, We also take this moment to reflect on the larger tragedy of journalism in Kashmir exposed by the arrest of Kamran Yousuf.
More than the government or investigation agencies Kamran, a young journalist, has been failed by the fraternity, all of us together, the statement said. Let us admit that the journalistic fraternity in Kashmir, including us, has failed to stand up for Kamran Yousuf since his arrest on September 5 last year, leave alone strive for his release.
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