Srinagar/New Delhi, Nov 26: Condemning the assault on Journalists allegedly by government forces, the Peoples Democratic Party Saturday accused the state government of being hell bent to muzzle freedom of expression in the Kashmir valley.
 In a statement here, the chief spokesman of the party Naeem Akhtar said the incident is an outrageous attack by government security forces on four photojournalists who were merely discharging their professional duties.
 The party has called for a thorough investigation into the incident and demanded that those responsible be punished.
 Naeem said that the attack on press in Kashmir is systematic as the incident is not the first one and comes months after two Photojournalists were thrashed in a similar incident. This attack and other recent assaults against media shows that the freedom of expression in the state has been curtailed and is contrary to the tall claims made by government of ensuring democratic rights of freedom of Press, the statement read.
 The spokesman added that presence of the state Government is felt only through “sheer force and excesses.”
 “The government seems to have found a uniform solution to all problems faced by the people. Whether it is an issue of unemployment, pay revision, power supply, traffic woes or anything, the government resorts to force in order to silence the people’s voice. It seems governance is outsourced to police”.
 “This act is an attempt by the coalition government to hide its failures on political, governance and economic fronts,” the statement read.
 Akhtar said the so called non lethal methods employed by the government like the pepper grenade, used in some areas yesterday had exposed its “hypocrisy and double faced conduct.”
  He said the use of this latest device had landed half of the city into a miserable situation with all the people including those staying home feeling its punitive impact.

ACHR aghast
 Meanwhile, The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) also condemned the beating of journalists.
 “The ACHR condemns the beating of the journalists, who were covering the protests, by the Central Reserve Police Personnel,” said Suhas Chakma, Director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights.
 In a statement, Chakma has clarified that in its report, “Juveniles of Jammu and Kashmir: Unequal before the Law and Denied justice in Custody” of November 16, 2011”, it has not termed 51 juvenile cases as that of being “political prisoners.”
 “The Asian Centre for Human Rights termed the cases of 51 juveniles as juvenile cases being tried in normal courts in JK,” he added.
 “ACHR made no comment on the merits of these cases. ACHR only highlighted the absence of the juvenile justice in Jammu and Kashmir–a fact clearly stated by Ministry of Women and Child Development which in its 2010-2011 Annual Report called upon the JK State Government to amend the Jammu & Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act, 1997 and 2007 Rules to bring them at par with the Central Act,”  added Chakma.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST