Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Vice President and former MLC G N Monga today termed the government decision to stop advertisements to two English dailies– Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader – as an arm-twisting tactic and assault on the freedom of press.
In a statement issued at Jammu today, he said the government decision to deliberately strangulate and subvert the institution of media in Jammu and Kashmir is unfortunate. “In a democratic setup such tactics are not tolerable. Hitting the two newspapers will impact the state and status of both the journalists and the journalism in Kashmir.”
“An attempt is being made to interfere in the freedom of the press by exerting financial pressure. The BJP has been trying to bully the media across the country for its petty benefits. The media in Kashmir has been discharging their duties in very difficult circumstances and had always maintained the highest ethical and professional standards. The press community was being targeted for their neutral and unbiased reporting,” he added.
Meanwhile, the J&K Right to Information Movement (RTIM) has expressed dismay over withholding of the government advertisements to Greater Kashmir (GK) and Kashmir Reader (KR) newspapers, terming it as an attack on freedom of expression and speech.
In a statement issued at Srinagar today, the RTI Movement said that withholding the advertisements by the government “is not at all justifiable at this point of time when the local press is working in a very harsh situation.”Chairman JK RTI Movement Dr Raja
Muzaffar Bhat in the statement said that government and its agencies must respect the freedom of expression and speech guaranteed under article 19 of the Constitution.
“Stopping advertisements is nothing but gagging the genuine voice of people. Government must without any delay restore the advertisements to both the newspapers as the order violates the constitutional provisions”.
It said: “Even the Right to Information Act (RTI) has evolved from this very constitutional provision.”