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Kashmir reporters said that after India abolished Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status in 2019, police harassment and threats have increased.
Indian-controlled Kashmir police raided the residences of four journalists, raising concerns about further suppression of press freedom in a disputed area that was deprived of limited autonomy two years ago.
After the raid, four reporters were summoned to the local police station in the main city of Srinagar in the area, where they have been questioned since Wednesday morning. The police did not explain the reason for the attack.
Three of the reporters wrote articles for foreign media and one was the editor of the monthly news magazine.
Journalists in Kashmir have been under tremendous pressure for a long time and have been targeted by the Indian state and armed groups in the past, some of which are deadly.
Suppress reporters
The reporter said that after India abolished Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and divided the area into two federally administered territories during the unprecedented blockade in 2019, police harassment and threats have increased.
Many journalists were arrested, beaten, harassed, and sometimes even investigated under the anti-terrorism law.
“Harassment, raids and questioning of journalists have become the norm in Kashmir. The government has made journalism in Kashmir almost impossible,” a reporter working in an Indian newspaper told Al Jazeera.
Another young reporter from Srinagar said that frequent “raids and interrogations spread a wave of fear among them.”
“Journalism is completely criminalized. Journalists are afraid not only for themselves, but also for their families, because they are also being harassed now. Therefore, everything about us is in danger,” this reporter published for Kashmir International. The 29-year-old reporter who wrote the article told Al Jazeera.
For fear of retaliation, both reporters declined to be named.
Many journalists are now silent on social media.
The Kashmir Press Club, an elected journalist organization in the region, has repeatedly urged the Indian government to allow them to report freely, stating that security agencies are using personal attacks, threats and subpoenas to intimidate reporters and suppress the press.
Reporters and media watchdogs said that it is becoming more and more difficult to engage in journalism in Kashmir. India issued a controversial media policy last June, giving the government more power to censor independent reports.
Fearing reprisals from government agencies, most local media languished under pressure.
As a result, journalists have also been censored for anonymous online threats, which the government says are related to insurgents fighting against Indian rule.
Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan, and since the two countries won their independence from the British Empire and started fighting for their hostile claims, they both claimed to own all of their territories.
Since 1989, an all-out armed rebellion has broken out in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region, seeking a unified Kashmir-either under Pakistani rule or independent of the two countries.
This area is one of the most militarized areas in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, insurgents and government forces were killed in the fierce conflict.
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