JK Media Guild on Monday hailed Lt Governor, Girish Chander Murmu for “nullifying” the “Media Policy-2020” which announced by J&K Information and Public Relations department last month.
In a statement, the Guild which met here under the chairmanship of Mir Aijaz Ahmad, unanimously applauded the LG, who is “understood to have agreed with the perception of media fraternity after JK Media Guild protested against the policy.”
The statement said the implementation of the new “un-constitutional and un-democratic media policy appears to have been designed and framed by a group of vested interests to suppress the freedom of press without taking into confidence the administrative head of the Union territory.”
“We don’t consider it any victory. We think the government has corrected an error which was committed by a couple of vested interests who attempted to create a wedge between the government and the media,” said Aijaz.
He said the LG’s statement was quite encouraging and also a “slap on the face of corrupt bureaucrats, who misled the government to infringe the democratic and constitutional right of the media in the Union territory.”
Aijaz urged upon the government to involve the media representatives in the process of framing any media policy. He thanked the LG for including the social and electronic media in the advertisement policy of the government.
“In the changing times, this was the need of hour,” he said, asking the government to issue directions to various security agencies including local police to respect members of media fraternity while they are discharging their professional duties.
“Media in the country has always been respected as the fourth estate of democracy and this constitutional tradition should not be compromised in Jammu and Kashmir for petty interests of Babus,” he said.
Aijaz while concluding the hour long session which was participated by all the office bearers and executive members and also the representatives of the sister-associations which supported the cause and joined protest march July 6, thanked all the media houses, journalists, correspondents and photo journalists from J&K and national media also, for coverage of the protest march.