Author:
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: June 5, 2002
The recent shooting incident of
a newspaper reporter has been seen as yet another attempt by Pakistan's
ISI to 'effectively' silence the vernacular press in the valley, reports
PTI.
Scared by the recent targeted killing
in the valley the Kashmir press has of late carried very few editorials
or articles. Though none of the editors or reporters is willing to come
out and comment on the situation, several of them feel that the media had
suddenly come under attack because of its criticism of violence.
"We have been projecting the truth
but not one agrees with us. The threatening letters always keep on coming
and one never knows whether a bullet will hit him or some grenade is waiting
for him," says an editor of a local daily on the condition of anonymity.
Several Kashmiri journalists feel
that they were caught between the Government and militant groups operating
in the valley. "If we write in favour of the government and highlight the
developments or criticise the violence, a mail from militants is waiting
at your table the next day and if we follow the diktats of militants, the
government curbs several things including the advertisements," the editor
said.
The editor also feels that the valley
had seen a boom of newspapers especially after the onset of militancy and
claimed that some of the vernacular dailies were operating as 'mouthpiece
of some vested interests'.
"The recent killing of senior Hurriyat
conference leader Abdul Gani Lone," says another editor of a weekly, "was
to scare the moderate leadership within the amalgam and the same tactics
have been used for scaring the valley media by shooting a reporter of a
local daily."
It may be mentioned that Zafar Iqbal,
a sub-editor with a local English daily was shot at in Srinagar. He has
not been able to identify the assailants.
"This trend is not new. The killing
started with Mushtaq Ali (a valley-based photo-journalists) who was killed
after suspected militants sent him a letter bomb. The effect was clear
as the entire valley press mellowed down for a long time," says a reporter.
He said that since several of international
dailies picked up from the valley press, militants and their bosses were
unhappy with the media. "This is followed by an attack and the valley media
goes into cold-storage," he added.
The 12 year long militancy in the
state has seen several media persons falling prey to militant bullets starting
from Lassa Kaul, station director of Doordarshan. The tragic death of Saidin
Shafi, who worked for an electronic media, remained still fresh in the
minds as his only crime was that this brother in law was a police officer.
