The Press Guild of Kashmir (PGK) has expressed serious resentment against the government that has virtually banned the local media but was extending all facilities to media persons coming from Delhi and other parts of India to cover the situation here.
In a statement issued here today, a spokesman of the Guild said that while the authorities have put curbs on local media, cancelled the curfew passes earlier issued to local media persons and therefore no local newspaper could get published on Thursday, media crews coming from Delhi and elsewhere were provided all facilities to cover the situation. Journalists working for national and international print and electronic media were also denied access while their counterparts from Delhi and other parts are roaming free to cover the events, said the spokesman adding that this treatment is condemnable. He pointed out that even the cameras of Srinagar-based reporters working for TV channels were seized.
“This is share discrimination against Srinagar based media persons and media organisations,” the spokesman said.
Questioning the government’s intentions, the Guild spokesman said it has been a practice all along that in crisis situations the governments, that be, curb the local media and facilitate access to favourites from outside the State.
“This happened during Kargil war in 1999 too when local media was denied access to the information and media crews were brought from Delhi to cover the situation,” the spokesman said, wondering what the government was trying to convey by adopting such a discriminatory approach.
“Without declaring officially, a blanket ban has been imposed on local media. But the media persons from outside Kashmir are free to visit any locale and cover all the events,” added the spokesman.
Meanwhile not a single newspaper could be published here on Thursday as movemement of journalists was restricted. Police has laid a seige around Press Enclave where most of the newspaper offices are located.
