Kashmir journalists resign, go into hiding after anonymous ‘Lashkar threat’

Kashmir journalists resign, go into hiding after anonymous ‘Lashkar threat’

Days after over 20 journalists in Kashmir purportedly received anonymous online threats allegedly issued by The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the media in the Valley remains in the grip of panic. While many journalists have gone into hiding, others have temporarily left Kashmir in search of a safe haven, ThePrint has learnt.

Resignations have also mounted, with at least six journalists from regional news organisations including those of Rising Kashmir and ANN News quitting in the past 10 days. Journalists from these two organisations and Greater Kashmir were named in the purported threat.

Many took to social media to announce their dissociation from the media houses.

“I announce my resignation from Reporter’s position and disassociation from Media House Rising Kashmir,” journalist Jahangir Sofi tweeted on 14 November. Sofi’s name figured in the list of journalists against whom threats were issued in the anonymous note.

On Monday, Yasrab Khan, who identified himself as an ANN “cameraman”, also announced his resignation on social media.

In a statement Friday, the Editors Guild of India condemned the purported threat to journalists, comparing the present situation in the Kashmir Valley to that during the militancy of the 1990s.

“Journalists in Kashmir now find themselves in the firing line from both the state authorities as well as terrorists, in what is a throwback to the years of heightened militancy in the 1990s,” the statement read.

ThePrint Monday met some of the journalists whose names were part of the list, but most were too scared to be named. Most of them were of the view, however, that “the situation now is worse than in the 1990s”.

“I am not scared of the threats at all, but I am careful. I have done nothing wrong, so why should I be scared?” one of the journalists named in the online threat told ThePrint.

Claiming that his name had featured on such lists in the past as well, he added: “I have been careful since 2019, because I knew things were going to turn bad (following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir). The time is such that I don’t even tell my wife where I am going. Abhi mohol bohot kharab chal raha hai (At present, the situation is bad). And it is turning worse day by day.”

He further alleged that while journalists are troubled by the administration (if their coverage is perceived to be against the authority), such organisations (terror groups) also create problems for them.

Meanwhile, the Jammu & Kashmir Police on 12 November registered a case against “handlers, active terrorists & OGWs (Over Ground Workers) of terror outfit LeT & its offshoot TRF for online publication & dissemination of a direct threat letter to Journalists & reporters based in Kashmir”.

About a week later, on 19 November, “massive searches” were carried out by the police at various locations across Srinagar, Anantnag and Kulgam, in connection with the case.

“The threats originated in Pakistan with some inputs from here. We are also looking at people who were once affiliated with these (news) organisations. A total of 12 locations were searched,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar, Rakesh Balwal told ThePrint Tuesday.

He added that three of the 12 locations searched were linked to alleged TRF operatives Basit Dhar, Momin Gulzar and Sajjad Gul (who operates from Pakistan).

“Sajjad Gul drafts these lists and TRF posters. Apart from that, Mukhtar Baba’s (a former journalist from Kashmir) role also came up. He has helped in preparing this list. Other eight were suspects who might have had some role in the threats,” Balwal said.

On the issue of providing security to journalists, the SSP said it was done in offices and residences where they deemed it necessary. Personal security officers have also been provided to some media personnel, he added.

Earlier this month, the threat was issued against “pseudo-journalists”, and “traitors and stooges” which was issued on a blog, believed to be operated from Pakistan. “Many credible voices have been silenced and fake voices have been groomed in the last few years,” it had claimed, adding that “their time/fate is sealed”.

Source: Theprint