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| PDP, NC, Congress forget own regimes on treating media | | Auron Ko Nasihat! | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 20: Even as former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and the Congress have trained guns on New Delhi over some incidents related to media, such parties have forgotten how their regimes treated media fraternity in Jammu and Kashmir during their respective regimes.
While, as of now both Omar and Mehbooba are beating chests trying to project that New Delhi in general and the Bharatiya Janta Party in particular were averse to free press, the fact remains that the previous regimes of the dynasts in league with the Congress were seen as allergic to the very idea of professional journalism.
From getting newspaper offices sealed to banning publications to initiating action against individual journalists, even the families of media persons were not spared during the previous regimes.
Around a decade ago, a bi-lingual newspaper based in Srinagar was sealed after a senior Congress leader had some issues with its Editor.
While Omar Abdullah is now trying to take high moral grounds, during his regime even writing facts was seen as a crime and his government would try to “revenge it by hook or crook.”
During the 2010 unrest in Kashmir that left over 100 persons dead, a leading national daily had reported that when people were dying, Omar was busy holidaying with his “friends” in Gulmarg. A senior official while recollecting the incident said that time the spouse of the journalist was targeted. “He (Omar) couldn’t dare to question the leading national daily and thus he took revenge by transferring the wife of the journalist who had reported about the holidaying,” said the official. In another incident, a newspaper office was sealed overnight for reporting the truth.
During his successor Mehbooba Mufti’s regime, a Srinagar based daily was banned for weeks together. That time senior PDP leader and the then government spokesman Naeem Akhter had defended banning the publication of the newspaper.
In another case, the Mehbooba’s government had booked a journalist for reporting facts. A case was filed at Police Station Kothi Bagh reportedly at the behest of then Tourism Minister Tasaduq Mufti who is also Mehbooba’a brother.
In another case, the office of the Chief Minister had filed case against a journalist in the Press Council of India misleading the PCI that a news report on corruption and favoritism was “filed with murderous intention to get a close aide of Mehbooba killed.”
Interestingly, the PCI had dismissed the case saying that the said journalist had done nothing wrong in reporting the truth about favoritism in the Mehbooba’s government.
A senior official said it was wrong on the part of such political parties and politicians that they were trying to attack BJP. “How can they forget their past.”
Despite repeated attempts the NC, PDP and Congress leaders were not available for comments. |
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