Srinagar, Aug 19: Despite assurances from the top officials, police are not allowing the distributors to circulate newspapers in north Kashmir.
“Police are not allowing distributors and hawkers to move beyond Mirgund on Srinagar-Varmul highway. Police have imposed an undeclared blanket ban on distribution of newspapers in north Kashmir. We have not been able to even send a single copy to any of the northern areas for past 15-days,” a group of distributors told Greater Kashmir.
Many times the copies of newspapers were seized either at Mirgund or Choora or in Sumbal. “This has resulted in huge losses to newspaper organizations and has also deprived lakhs of people from getting the information, which is their fundamental, right,” they added.
Distributors accused policemen of assaulting their colleagues for asking them the reason for the ban. When contacted an official at Mirgund Police Post said that the orders to stop the newspapers had come from the top. He said that the Police Control Room had flashed express message to ban the circulation of newspapers beyond Mirgund.
Director Information Farooq Renzu expressed ignorance and said that he would take up the issue with concerned authorities.
The Kashmir Press Association and Press Guild of Kashmir, the representative bodies of newspapers have strongly condemned the ban by the government. “It is uncalled for and government should explain why the decision was taken,” they said in a joint statement.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST