Press club slams PCI

Srinagar, March 16

The Kashmir Press Club (KPC) on Monday met the three-member Fact Finding Committee (FFC) of the Press Council of India (PCI) in Srinagar to apprise them of the media scene in Kashmir.

The KPC management told the visiting delegation that the period since the August 5 after the abrogation of Article 370 has been the “toughest time” for the Kashmir media, during which the journalists faced harassment, summons, intimidation and censorship.

Pointing to the communication blackout, the KPC management told the PCI delegation that after August 5, 2019, Kashmir witnessed the longest Internet curfew in the modern history, which severely hampered the working of the Press in the region and termed the harsh measures as “a Press gag”.

The club management also raised questions over the conduct of the Press Council of India and pointed out that the PCI during this time had failed to show solidarity with the Kashmiri journalists when they were facing existential threats and the most troubling times. The club also pointed out the “unethical” stand taken by the PCI chairman wherein he had justified the restrictions imposed by the government post abrogation of Article 370. —TNS