Press Club of India demands probe against J&K Police over ‘harassment’ of journalist

Press Club of India (PCI) on Thursday strongly castigated and sought an inquiry against the Jammu and Kashmir Police for allegedly harassing Kashmir journalist Shahid Tantray for his reportage

The Press Club of India (PCI) on Thursday strongly castigated and sought an inquiry against the Jammu and Kashmir Police for allegedly harassing Kashmir journalist Shahid Tantray for his reportage.

The Press Club of India expressed concern about a series of incidents of harassment and intimidation against journalists who are “not toeing” the government line. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/ Representational image)

The body expressed concern about a series of incidents of harassment and intimidation against journalists who are “not toeing” the government line.

It has demanded the intervention of the Union government and the territory’s lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha in the matter.

“The J&K police threatening against Tantray to stop reporting against the government or else face consequences refreshes the memory of the Emergency era of ’75,” the PCI said in a statement issued on Twitter.

Kashmir journalist working with ‘The Caravan’, Shahid Tantray on Wednesday accused the Jammu and Kashmir Police of consistently harassing him and his family since the publication of his two stories in the magazine in February and June. However, the police said that they have received a complaint about his latest story “False Flags”, which names people in a “mischievous manner”.

While the first story was on the state of press freedom in Kashmir, the second story which was published on June 1 titled “False Flags” was on the army’s alleged “secretive role” in the “hyper-nationalist” protests in the region.

The PCI demanded an immediate inquiry against the police for “unleashing criminal intimidation” against Tantray and the latter be reinstated in Srinagar as a reporter.

“We are concerned about the depressing trends of a series of incidents of harassment and intimidation against journalists who are not toeing the government line of thinking on public policy matters,” the body said.

Tantray has alleged that police visited his house a week before his first story on the media crackdown was published on February 1 and then called his father when his second story was published on June 1.

“…Between my first story on the crackdown on the freedom of the press in Kashmir and the second story on the army’s role in nationalistic protests in Kashmir, my family and I have been consistently harassed by the police,” he alleged.