Today, the Kashmir Working Journalists Association (KWJA) released a statement condemning the incarceration of Kashmiri photojournalist Kamran Yousuf “who is being victimized only for carrying out his professional duties that somehow embarrassed the government”.

The 23-year-old Kashmiri photojournalist was arrested on September 5.  His family was not informed when he was taken away. More than four months later, on January 18, he was charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy and an attempt to wage war against India, according to an article in Scroll.in.

On February 15, in the documents presented before the Additional Sessions Court in New Delhi, the National Investigation Agency stated that Yusuf was not a real journalist but was actually a stone-pelter, and therefore, an anti-national.

In the chargesheet, NIA listed the “moral duty of a journalist” and observed: “Had he been a real journalist/stringer by profession, he may have performed one of the moral duty of a journalist which is to cover the activities and happening (good or bad) in his jurisdiction. He had never covered any developmental activity of any Government Department/Agency, any inauguration of Hospital, school Building, Road, Bridge, statement of political party in power or any other social/developmental activity by state government or Govt of India.”

KWJA said today the NIA should desist from delivering lectures on journalism and noted that it is aghast at the efforts of NIA to define the working of a journalist. “The pathetic standards of journalism that NIA aims to thrust are not just childishly naive but also reflect a dangerous conspiracy to dis-empower the fourth estate.”

The statement goes on to add: “We strongly contest NIA’s definition of journalism and affirm that it is not the job of a journalist to cover bridge inaugurations or birthday parties of government and political functionaries, and If NIA does not understand the basics that separate PR from journalism, it puts its own investigating capabilities into question”.