Eight journalists were beaten up by the Jammu & Kashmir police in the wee hours of Wednesday morning in the wake of a gunfight between militants and government forces in a volatile downtown area of Srinagar city. The gunfight broke out at dawn in Fateh Kadal area, seeing the killing of two militants, a policeman and a civilian who was identified as an accomplice to the militants.

A large group of journalists had come to cover the encounter. Arshad Hussain Shah of ABP News had been talking to DIG Vidhi Kumar Birdi when he became the first journalist beaten by the police. Arshad told Newslaundry, “We were talking with DIG Birdi and out of nowhere, the Special Operations Group (SOG) men came and started to thrash me and my cameraman Asif. DIG Birdi tried to save us but the attack was so furious that even DIG Birdi couldn’t stop the SOG men. They behaved more like goons than a professional police force. When we tried to run for our lives, they fired pellets on two photographers who were trying to save themselves from the wrath of the SOG.”

Arshad survived the attack with an elbow injury and bruises, while his cameraman Asif is in a great deal of pain due to batons used on him by the police.

The journalists who were beaten up are:

–          Qazi Irshad of Kashmir Times

–          Arshad Hussain Shah, reporter of ABP News

–          Asif Shah, cameraman of ABP News

–          Basit Zargar of Amar Ujjala

–          Danish Ismail of Reuters

–          Waseem Andrabi of Hindustan Times

–          Faizan Altaf of Daily Aftab

–          Dar Yasin of Associated Press

Talking to Newslaundry, Basit Zargar of Amar Ujjala said: “The Special Operation Group of Jammu & Kashmir police not only roughed us up but also used abusive language. They have to give us the freedom to work. The police or any other security agency should not unnecessarily harass journalists carrying out their professional duties.”

In 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution against the attacks on journalists in conflict situations. The resolution 1738 (2006) states: “Journalists, media professionals and associated personnel engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians and shall be respected and protected as such,  provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.” It also states that media equipment and installations constitute civilian objects, and in this respect shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals, unless they are military objectives.

According to photojournalist Bilal Bahadur from The Times of India, they were a group of about 20 photo- and videojournalists on Wednesday morning. He told Newslaundry, “We were first stopped at Fateh Kadal Bridge and were not allowed to move further. After persuading the police, we were allowed to move towards the gunfight site. When we neared the house where the gunfight was raging, suddenly the SOG men swung into action and beat up over a dozen journalists from various news agencies.”  

Bilal said Arshad, the ABP reporter, was thrashed first. “He was roughed up badly; then they (the SOG men) ruthlessly thrashed other journalists near the gunfight site.” You can see a video here of the attack on the journalists.

Reacting to this incident, the Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said: “In Downtown Srinagar,Son of House owner killed in cold blood,owner suffers cardiac arrest,two armed youth martyred,houses razed to ground, journalists and photographers beaten! Amidst rejection by people revenge & repression of authorities escalates! strongly condemn subjugation [sic].”

The Kashmir Press Club, Kashmir Editors Guild, Kashmir Journalist Association and Kashmir Press Photographers Association condemned the attack on the journalists by the police. The Kashmir Press Photographers Association held the J&K police directly responsible, saying two senior police officers—Superintendent of Police (North City) and Superintendent of Police (Cargo)—used abusive language against the photojournalists while they were covering the gunfight and roughed up several of them. The association’s spokesman termed the police officers’ behaviour as “brazen” and “uncalled for” and urged authorities to take immediate action against them.

‘Accept our apologies’

Trying to douse the department’s embarrassment, Swayam Prakash Pani, the Inspector General (IG), Kashmir range, extended “unconditional apologies” to the journalistic fraternity and assured action in the case.

“Without going into the context of the incident I unconditionally apologise to all journalist friends. I assured to look into it because we don’t want any unpleasant thing happening between police and media,” Pani said.

He also said the journalist body that the police will develop a Standard Operating Procedure for the crisis situation so that such incidents wouldn’t be repeated.

The gunfight

To give context, the journalists had gathered to cover the gunfight, which killed two militants, one policeman—identified as Komal from Reasi district of Jammu—and a civilian identified as Rayees Ahmad. The gunfight broke out after a joint team of the state police and the CRPF cordoned off Fateh Kadal after “specific information” about the presence of some militants.

The police said, “The eliminated terrorists and an active accomplice have been identified as Mehraj-ud-Din Bangroo and Fahad Mushtaq Waza.” The alleged accomplice Rayees Ahmad, who was the civilian killed, was also the son of the owner of the house, Habibullah Hanga. The police said Bangroo—son of Sona-ul-Lah Bangroo, a resident of Narparistan Fateh Kadal—had a long history of criminal records pertaining to terror-related activities, including the killing of two police personnel at Bagh-e-Ali Mardan Khan near Zadibal and the killing of one police personnel and snatching his weapon at Tengpora Batamaloo. He was also involved in several terror attack cases, including a series of grenade attacks.

The other militant, Fahad Mushtaq Waza, was the son of Mushtaq Ahmad Waza, a resident of Akilmir Khanyar. He was also involved in several terror-related incidents and had many cases registered against him. The police are currently investigating the complicity of Rayees Ahmad, whom they said was part of the group which provided shelter and logistics to the terrorists.