Srinagar: More than two-and-a-half years after the government officially shut down the Kashmir Press Club, following a controversial ‘take-over’ of the journalist body by a rebel group, a self-styled ‘interim executive body’ of the Press Club of Kashmir announced on August 12, 2024, that a new press club will soon be established in Srinagar.
Latest, but unconfirmed reports from Kashmir said, that the new Press Club has been set up at Amira Kadal, Lal Chowk.
According to a statement released by this ‘interim body’, the administration has pledged full support to facilitate the club’s establishment as quickly as possible.
The statement said that “prominent journalists” have nominated an interim executive body, with M Saleem Pandit of ‘The Times of India’ as president, Zulfikar Majid of ‘Deccan Herald’ as general secretary, and Farzana Mumtaz of ‘News Kashmir’ as treasurer. The ‘executive body’, the statement said, met with the administration, which assured them of its assistance in setting up the press club shortly.
The Kashmir Press Club, which started in 2018 and had 300 members, has been shut since January 17, 2022, when the Jammu and Kashmir officially shut it down following the controversial take-over of the club by a rebel group of journalists. The Club was operating from a government building, allotted to it, on the Polo View. The building was subsequently taken over by the Jammu Kashmir Police and now houses a police station.
On January 15, 2022, a group of journalists, including Saleem Pandit and Zulfikar Majid, allegedly supported by the local administration and police, stormed the KPC offices in Srinagar, holding its members hostage and declaring themselves the new interim leadership. The elections to the KPC were long overdue, they said, in support of their actions.
While the move was decried by journalist bodies in and outside Kashmir, including by international watchdogs like Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Federation of Journalists, the government had justified the move as an attempt to protect the freedom of expression and misuse of the institution because of ‘forcible take-over’ controversy.
The KPC elections were last held for the first time in July 2019 when a Kashmir Editors’ Guild (KEG) backed body made a clean sweep in the polls, winning 10 out of 11 seats. Shuja-ul-Haq was elected its president, Moazzum Ahmed and Ishfaq Tantray were elected as vice president and general secretary respectively. Seven other members were elected as part of the executive body.
The first election was mired in controversy as two local journalist bodies – Kashmir Union of Working Journalists and Kashmir Journalist Corps — had dissociated from the election process on unknown grounds.
The new press club in Kashmir. Photo: X/@Farhat_naik_
Despite these ticklish problems since its inception, the KPC helped unite the journalist fraternity and provided the much-needed space for solidarity and support for journalists as press freedoms began to be constantly and systemically whittled away by the government after August 2019. Unlike many other press bodies, which went defunct or shied away from criticizing the government, the KPC executive body continued to take up issues of internet shut-down and harassment of journalists by the local police.
For many young journalists, especially freelancers, the Press Club doubled up as a working space where they would work on their reports, interact, exchange story ideas, talk about their challenges, and get mentorship from seniors. Besides a restaurant, the Press Club housed a library, gymnasium, meeting rooms, and a conference hall where experts would be invited to conduct training workshops for young professionals and amateurs.
A former executive member of the KPC said that the Club’s halls were also rented out by others for organizing press conferences, boosting the institution’s revenue, and adding to the convenience of the journalists.
The term of the executive body elected in 2019 ended in July 2021. However, elections were long delayed allegedly due to delays in the process of re-registration of the Press Club. The former executive committee blamed the government for the delay. In a statement, the former KPC executive body said that after following the required legal procedures, a fresh registration was issued to the club on December 29, 2021.
However, on January 14, 2022, a day after it announced elections for a new managing body, the authorities announced that they had kept the club’s registration in abeyance, citing an adverse report received from CID. It said that soon after the registration formalities were completed, after a long delay, the KPC elections were announced to be held in February.
The alleged drama of the forcible takeover of the Press Club by allegedly government-backed journalists was criticised by many journalists at that time who described it as a premeditated attempt by the government to shut down the institution by first delaying the registration process and then stage managing what many called a ‘coup’ of the KPC.
Ten local journalist bodies also condemned the unceremonious shutdown of the KPC in a collective meeting.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned this closure, labelling it as an undemocratic move by the Indian administration, which they argued aimed to stifle press freedom. The IFJ stated that the shutdown violates democratic principles and is a blatant attempt to silence critical journalism in the region. They urged authorities to immediately reinstate the KPC and allow its members to elect a new managing body without interference.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the closure of the Kashmir Press Club, describing it as an undeclared coup orchestrated by the local government under the direction of the Indian central administration. They noted that the press club had been a key institution for journalists in the region and called for its immediate reopening. RSF’s Asia-Pacific Desk head, Daniel Bastard, said the shutdown was an insult to journalists and part of a broader attempt to turn Kashmir into an information “black hole.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Jammu and Kashmir authorities to reverse their decision to shut down the Kashmir Press Club, emphasising that the closure was part of a continuing effort to prevent journalists from doing their jobs in the region. They criticized the suspension of the club’s registration and the government’s takeover of its premises, urging immediate restoration of the press club’s operations and an end to harassment of journalists.
The Editors Guild of India noted that journalists in the region “frequently face intimidation from terror groups as well as the state”. “In a state ridden with such excesses against media, Kashmir Press Club was an important institution for fighting for protection and rights of journalists,” its statement said.
“It also remained open through the lockdown, giving journalists access to important facilities like the internet for filing their work, as well as workshops for training young journalists. The shutting down of the club therefore sets a dangerous precedent for media freedom,” it added.
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) criticised the Jammu and Kashmir administration for suspending the KPC’s registration and facilitating a forcible takeover of the press club by a small group of journalists with police support. They expressed concern over the sustained harassment and intimidation of journalists in the valley, calling the takeover a clear act of vendetta aimed at silencing dissenting voices. Journalists and global organisations at that time expressed concerns about the increasing suppression of independent media in Kashmir.
Since January 2022, press freedom in Kashmir began to face heightened uncertainty after the journalists, allegedly backed by local authorities, forcibly took control of the Kashmir Press Club.
This drama of the shutdown of the KPC unfolded against a backdrop of increasing restrictions on the press in Kashmir, where journalists frequently face harassment, arrests, and censorship.
The closure of the Kashmir Press Club, one of the last remaining solidarity spaces for Kashmir journalists, served a severe blow to the independence of journalism in the region, fuelling concerns that free speech and media autonomy are under relentless pressure from state forces.
A week before the shutdown, Bandipora-based journalist, Sajad Gul was arrested and continues to remain in prison. Subsequently, a month later, Fahad Shah, the editor of Kashmir Wallah, a web portal that was shut down by the government last year, was arrested and released on bail two years later. Several other journalists faced detentions or criminal cases were lodged against them in the following days. Journalists were also put on no-fly lists, arbitrarily, and a year ago, the government also revoked the passports of about a dozen journalists.
Amidst the increasing environment of threats, repression, and surveillance that the journalists have worked under, the closure of the KPC enabled the complete silencing of journalists who are compelled to report about the “positive narrative of the government” or focus on soft stories.
With KPC self-styled interim body back on the scene with the new announcement, many eyebrows are being raised by journalists but no one is willing to speak out. They criticise the surprise mutely and mildly but do not wish to be quoted.
“The announcement of revival from the same people who enabled its closure and prevented a democratic election of the institution to take place,” some of them say.
Criticism of the same has come from strange quarters.
Following the announcement that the Press Club of Kashmir would soon be re-established in Srinagar, the National Conference (NC) has raised concerns over the transparency of the process.
The party, emphasizing the significance of press freedom in a democracy, has called on the administration to clarify key details, including when and where the interim election notification was issued, the list of participating journalists, the date, and the venue of the elections.
The party has urged the ruling administration to provide prompt and transparent answers, stressing the importance of maintaining integrity in matters that directly affect the journalistic community.
Taking to X, the JKNC tweeted:
“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? We look forward to receiving prompt, accurate, and transparent responses from the ruling party.”
Both the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party earlier had condemned the forcible closure of the KPC in 2022.
This article was originally published on Kashmir Times.
