On the eve of India’s 70th Republic Day, the security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police department in a bizarre diktat barred senior journalists in the Valley from covering the Republic Day event. The media fraternity in Kashmir subsequently boycotted the function which was held at Sher-i-Kashmir stadium, Srinagar.  

About five senior video and photojournalists were barred from entering the stadium. They’ve been identified as Tauseef Mustafa of Agence France Press, Danish Ismail of Reuters, Habib Naqash of Greater Kashmir, Aman Farooq of Greater Kashmir and Mehrajuddin of APTN.

Tauseef Mustafa told Newslaundry he’s been covering such functions since the time of former PM HD Deve Gowda. “I have been associated with AFP for the last 26 years but we have never seen such harassment. I was issued security clearance pass Number 29 by the information department. But when I reached the venue, they (the police) already had another list with them. On that list, my number was 71. They bluntly told me you have been barred from covering the function.”

Mustafa says that the information department was clearly going along with the police, as they failed to provide a reason for barring them from covering the event. “If they think that we are involved in any anti-state activities, they should give us proof. They cannot bar us every now and then. It a gunda raj here. They want to keep the media under their feet.” He says 12 senior media members were stopped from covering the function today. “They cannot harass us like this. They should come out in public and openly say why we were barred.”

Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone condemned the action on Twitter, calling on the Governor to take note. He also said “journalism and journalists” can’t be defined “through a security prism”.

Reuters photojournalist Danish Ismail who was also barred has been associated with Reuters since 2003. He says, “I covered the R-Day rehearsal function with the same pass and at the same venue. Those pictures are on the Reuters website. If I had security clearance to enter the venue two days ago, what made them stop me today?”

He adds that he’s covered several major events—the World Cup hockey match in Delhi in 2010, the Commonwealth Games the same year, the Nepal earthquake and the Bangkok elections. “Every time, I was cleared by the security. But I fail to understand why we were barred today on the pretext of ‘security clearance’.” He sums it up, saying: “Khayal jis ka tha mujey khayal main mila mujey; Sawal ka jawab bi sawal main mila mujey.”

Danish says even when bomb blasts rocked Srinagar, he and other media personnel weren’t barred from reporting on them. “I completely fail to understand what has happened to the present dispensation. Why are they behaving in a bizarre manner?” He says that they are journalists, and journalists don’t take sides. “If they (security agencies) think that we are taking sides, then they are grossly mistaken. We give their stories equal publicity as well. We don’t take sides.”

After the security agencies barred the journalists, the media fraternity in Kashmir took out a protest march from the Kashmir Press Club to Ganta Ghar, Lal Chowk. Shuja ul Haq, president of the Kashmir Press Club, told Newslaundry: “We took out a joint protest and also jotted down a memorandum. We want this issue to be solved as soon as possible. We do hope the authorities will address the issue soon.”

A scene from the protest march.

The memorandum states: “More shockingly they were denied entry despite the Information Department having issued passes to them yesterday for the same. The security officers also told our colleagues that they were being denied entry based on ‘adverse’ remarks on them issued by the security wing of J&K Police.”

Meanwhile, the Kashmir Editors Guild strongly condemned the action, saying: “The action by the security men on the ground suggests that the security establishment wishes to frighten the media by not allowing them to carry out their professional duties.”

K Vijay Kumar, the advisor to the Governor who is also in charge of the Home Department, says the issue will be looked into. He also said the entire process of security clearance for issuance of passes to journalists shall be reviewed for better coordination in the future. In a statement issued today, he said: “It is learnt that today at Republic Day parade venue in Srinagar some journalists were not permitted to cover the event as the security passes issued to them were found not to be authenticated. The matter shall be looked into.”