The DIGIPUB News India Foundation has expressed “deep concern” and strongly condemned the reported "raids and escalating harassment” of the Kashmir Times by the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s State Investigation Agency (SIA). “Targeting an independent and credible news organisation in this manner is a direct assault on press freedom,” it said in a statement. 

The FIR further accused them of propagating content allegedly detrimental to the country's sovereignty and a threat to public law and order. Besides their office, a “parallel search” was also conducted at editor Prabodh Jamwal’s home in Jammu. The SIA claimed that it allegedly recovered “one revolver, 14 empty cases of AK-series weapon, three live AK rounds, four fired bullets, three grenade safety levers” and “three suspected pistol rounds” from their office.

The news publication has faced scrutiny before. In 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory’s Estates Department shut down the Kashmir Times office in Srinagar. As a result, by the end of 2021, the newspaper had transitioned entirely to a digital format. Bhasin noted that the authorities have yet to return the equipment that was confiscated at the time.

In its statement on Thursday night, DIGIPUB presented Kashmir Times managing editor Anuradha Bhasin’s point of view, stating, among other things, that all the information about this raid first came to her from media reports, and the office raided by the SIA had been closed for the last four years. The statement also highlighted the position she took on how “the government is attempting to target, suppress, and eliminate voices that advocate peace, dialogue, and political processes as the path to building a terror-free Kashmir”.

The statement also expressed grave concern over “increasing instances of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir – including members of DIGIPUB – being subjected to intimidation” under the guise of "verification" and "background checks."

Several journalists in Kashmir told Newslaundry they receive background-verification calls from government offices many times a month, asking them to disclose PAN and Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, salary slips, property records, and even their marital status. Local officials, the story found, have been tasked with compiling personal and financial information of working journalists. This sort of intimidation, the statement noted, "weaken(s) independent journalism and undermine(s) the public's right to information”. 

“A free press is the backbone of any democracy. DIGIPUB urges the authorities to immediately halt all coercive measures against Kashmir Times and ensure that journalists are able to work without fear or reprisal.” It went on to add that DIGIPUB stood “in solidarity” with the Kashmir Times and “all journalists in Jammu and Kashmir who continue to practise fact-based, public-interest journalism despite adverse conditions.” 

“Journalism is not a crime, and any attempt to silence independent voices harms the core values of our democracy,” the foundation said.

Several journalists questioned the raids online. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also issued a statement on Thursday’s raid: “Reports of a raid on the Kashmir Times office are deeply troubling and raise concerns about increasing pressure on media outlets in Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities must clearly explain the legal basis for this action and ensure that any investigation is conducted with transparency and full respect for due process. News outlets should not face punitive action simply for doing their journalistic work.”

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