The Jammu and Kashmir Police’s State Investigation Agency has carried out searches at the head office of Kashmir Times newspaper in Jammu.

An FIR has reportedly been filed against the paper’s Managing Editor Anuradha Bhasin for allegedly propagating content detrimental to the sovereignty of the country and a threat to public law and order. 

Media reports citing officials said documents and digital devices were under the scanner after the searches that were carried out early at the two-storey office on Thursday morning. The SIA officials were reportedly assisted by J&K police personnel, who laid the outer cordon.

This comes years after the Srinagar office of Kashmir Times, one of the oldest papers in the union territory, was sealed in 2020.

In a statement, Kashmir Times said the accusations “leveled against us are designed to intimidate, to delegitimise, and ultimately to silence”.

“We are being targeted precisely because we continue to do this work. In an era when critical voices are increasingly scarce, we remain one of the few independent outlets willing to speak truth to power,” the outlet said.

“We call on the authorities to immediately cease this harassment, withdraw these unfounded allegations, and respect the constitutional guarantees of press freedom. We call on our colleagues in the media to stand with us. We call on civil society, on citizens who value their right to know, to recognise that this moment is a test of whether journalism can survive in an environment of increasing authoritarianism.”

Newslaundry had reported on the sealing of the paper’s office in Srinagar and how the crackdown on Jamwal and her paper had drawn widespread condemnation from the journalist fraternity. 

It was a “targeted move” against her and her newspaper, Anuradha Bhasin had said. “No due process was followed” and no “eviction or cancellation notice was served,” she had pointed out.

“I have been very outspoken, writing and talking about what has happened in Kashmir and how people are suffering. So, we were expecting some kind of targeting and this is not out of the blue,” she had told Newslaundry.

On August 5, 2019, when the Indian government abrogated Article 370 to remove the last vestiges of Kashmir’s autonomy and put the region under a communications blackout, Bhasin petitioned the Supreme Court for the restoration of internet and phone services to ensure the free and safe movement of journalists. The apex court asked the government to ease the curbs on communication.

After the Pahalgam attack this year, Bhasin had written about the need for political accountability as much as plugging security gaps. “If militancy has to be fought, it cannot solely be done militarily, as this would only yield short-term benefits. It must be done also by strengthening the constituency of peace – by reaching out to Kashmiris and also by improving diplomatic engagements at the South Asian level.” Read the full piece here. 

Update: This report and its headline have been revised with details of a Kashmir Times statement.

If the government can hike print ad rates by 26 percent, we can drop our subscription prices by 26 percent. Grab the offer and power journalism that doesn’t depend on advertisers.