Srinagar- The Jammu and Kashmir Press Corps (JKPC), has condemned ‘prejudicial and misleading’ video report about Kashmir media by Delhi-based Newslaundry website on its YouTube channel.
JKPC in a meeting chaired by group president Ayaz Hafiz on Tuesday condemned the Newslaundry’s video report “Inside Kashmir’s Media Crisis: The Real Story no one is telling this election,” as malicious, asserting that its ultimate objective appears to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere in J&K and malign the media fraternity.
Meeting by JKPC, a registered body of leading newspapers here was attended by representatives of Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Monitor, Kashmir Images, Kashmir Observer, Daily Aftab, Daily Uqab, Morning Kashmir, Daily Gadiyal, Good Morning Kashmir, Kashmir Scan, Era of Kashmir, Srinagar Jung, Kashmir Rays, Kashmir Convener, State Times, KNS besides others, a statement by the JKPC said.
The JKPC termed the report presented by Manisha Pande on the Newslaundry YouTube channel as “propaganda that seeks to subvert the narrative on Kashmir, falsely portraying the region as regressive and sans press freedom”.
“This is a deliberate attempt to falsify the ground reality and distort the true picture of press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Kashmir Valley,” the meeting concluded, according to the statement.
The JKPC accused the Newslaundry of deliberately discrediting the mainstream media in Kashmir by labelling it as ‘pamphlet’ and ignoring hard work of reporters and professional journalistic ethics followed by the newspapers here. The members emphasized that the content undermines the integrity of the local press and casts unfounded aspersions on the editorial policies of Kashmir’s daily newspapers.
“She expects that what the PM speaks about Kashmir and the Jammu and Kashmir policy must not occupy the front pages in Kashmir,” the JKPC said. “This positioning is indeed suspicious and belittles the ethics of journalism.
The JKPC said that Newslaundry has an issue with the transformation that is encouraging the people to uphold peace.
“She has problems with the mainstream news being published from the valley and bringing the emergence of peace in the public domain. This is not only malicious but suspicious,” the meeting observed. “At whose behest is she interested to project Kashmir as the land of bloodshed and abnormality when during the Lok Sabha Elections people created new records in terms of voting percentage and sent their elected representatives to the Parliament?”
The Press Corps said that after the successful completion of the first phase of the Assembly Elections, people are enthusiastic about casting their vote in the second phase as well.
“She (Pande) has issues why the newspapers from Kashmir are publishing the mainstream news that projects Jammu and Kashmir as the nucleus of change and peace. She has issues with the standard and quality of journalism being maintained by Kashmir’s newspapers amid competition and challenges,” the JKPC said. “Instead of appreciating the professional journalism being upheld by the media in Kashmir she wants to draw the sadistic pleasure. She does not stop here; she offers consultancy, which no one has asked her, regarding the editorial policy.”
“She claims in her video that she is highlighting the gagging of the press. But what will she say about her video in which she dictates the policy for the valley based newspapers? We are compelled to ask the Newslaundry as to its editorial policy?” the press release added.
The JKPC members opined that the video of the Newslaundry makes it amply clear that it wants to foment unrest and is acting at the behest of the elements that derive pleasure from the violence and subversion in Kashmir.
“It wants to project Kashmir as the land of violence. It does not want the development and peace to be restored,” the JKPC said. “Moreover, the JKPC observed that News Laundry has the editorial policy of projecting Kashmir as a conflict zone when there has been an on ground change after the abrogation of the Article 370 and 35 A.”
The JKPC asked the judiciary to take cognizance of this type of subversive reporting that wants Jammu and Kashmir again on the brink of conflict and is posing a threat to the responsible media that projects the real picture of peaceful and progressive Kashmir.
“Newspapers published from Kashmir have every right to analyse and frame their editorials on the issues that concern public interest and territorial integrity of India. No one can gag the Kashmir based newspapers and dictate terms to them when it comes to the freedom of press,” the press release said. “This kind of pressure tactics and misleading, malicious report by the Newslaundry is nothing but subversion to encourage the elements who want to drown Jammu and Kashmir again in the quagmire of ethno-religious conflict.”
“For more than three decades newspapers in Kashmir have been working as the guardians of human rights and democracy with utmost sense of responsibility,” the JKPC said.
Later, the media fraternity reaffirmed their resolve to uphold freedom of press and the national interest at all costs. It also warned the entire nation to be aware of those with vested interests and fissiparous tendencies masquerading as media but are actually acting as enemies of the professional press fraternity.
“We appeal to the entire media fraternity across the nation to condemn the report and stand in support of the progressive media in Kashmir that is working tirelessly to guard the national interests and the press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir”, the statement added.
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