New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Party (JKNC) has raised several questions about the recent announcement from Kashmir Press Club’s executive body, stating that the Union territory will soon have a press club in Srinagar.
The club’s registration under the Societies of Registration Act had been revoked in January 2022. On Monday (August 12), its executive body announced that the club will be made functional once again.
The statement issued by the body also mentioned that “prominent journalists” nominated the executive body comprising M. Saleem Pandit of Times of India as interim president, Zulfikar Majid of Deccan Herald as general secretary and Farzana Mumtaz of News Kashmir as treasurer.
In a post on X, JKNC asked when the interim elections for the club were held, when the notification was published, and who the participating journalists were, among other questions.
The party said, “Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy, and as such, we request clarification on the following matters from the current administration:
1) When was the interim election notification for the Press Club issued?
2) Where was this notification published?
3) Which journalists participated in these elections?
4) On what date were the elections conducted?
5) At which location were the elections held?”
After the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the Union government-run administration had asked the club to re-register under the Central Societies Registration Act. The club applied for re-registration in the first week of May 2021, however the Registrar of Societies issued the re-registration several months later, on December 29, 2021.
Two weeks later, on January 14, 2022, the re-registration was put on hold, citing a report from the J&K Police’s Criminal Investigation Department. The next day, a rival group of journalists had barged into the club’s premises declaring themselves as the “interim body”.
In an official release on January 17, 2022, the J&K administration said, “The factual position is that KPC as a registered body has ceased to exist and its managing body too has come to a legal closure on 14 July 2021, the date on which its tenure came to an end.”
“In its failure to register itself under the central Societies of Registration Act, further compounded by its failure to hold elections to constitute a new managing body, some individuals of the erstwhile club have been committing illegalities on several counts, least of which are false portrayal of being owner-managers of an entity which is no longer in legal vogue,” the administration had claimed, without explaining the delay in its -reregistration or why it was being revoked.
“It seems the ultimate goal was to shut down the Kashmir Press Club and for this purpose, they tried to install a group of journalists (who barged into the premises on Saturday). By this action, they wanted to stifle the voice of journalists that resonated through the forum called Kashmir Press Club, the only democratic and independent journalist body in the Valley. But it is our firm belief that our journalists are capable and professional enough to keep the flame glowing and confront these challenges ahead. I want to reiterate that journalism thrived in Kashmir and it will survive all crests and troughs in the future as well,” Ishfaq Tantray, the general secretary of the elected body of the press club had told the Indian Express.
In its announcement on Monday, the executive body said that its members held a meeting with the J&K administration regarding their help and assistance in establishing the club. The administration has reportedly offered “every possible help to establish of the Club in Srinagar in the shortest possible period.”
