Media in Jammu and Kashmir

Media in Jammu and Kashmir consists of periodicals such as Greater Kashmir and Rising Kashmir and radio stations such as Radio Kashmir Jammu and Radio Sharda. Various books have been written about the region, a large number being related to the Kashmir conflict. Urdu and english are the main languages used.[1] 19 journalists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990.[2] The region has seen various prohibitive measures against the media.[3][4]

Industry profiles

Periodicals

Major periodicals in Jammu and Kashmir include Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Times Daily Excelsior, Elite Kashmir and Kashmir Monitor.[1]

A Press Council of India report in 2017 titled "Media and Media Scenario of J&K" in 2017 stated that newspapers and periodical approved by the government of Jammu and Kashmir in which government-sponsored advertisements are released is 467, with 146 of them being on the DAVP panel.[5]

Cinema

During the Kashmir conflict following 1989, cinema halls were closed. Kashmiri militants said that films in movie halls were "un-islamic" while the Indian Army used movie halls as garrisons. In 1999 attempts were made to reopen the movie halls, but after a series of attacks, soon they were shut again. The movie hall "Neelam" has been used by the CRPF till as recent as July 2018.[6] During the "Kashmir World Film Festival" in 2017, Naeem Akhtar, a Kashmiri politician, talked about reopening of the cinema halls.[7]

Radio

Radio stations in Jammu and Kashmir include "Radio Kashmir Jammu" and "Radio Sharda".[8] Radio Jammu Kashmir was the first broadcasting centre of Jammu and Kashmir, coming into existence on 1 December 1947.[9] Radio Sharda, a worldwide community radio service for Kashmiri Pandits, was started by Ramesh Hangloo.[10]

Books
A pile of books on Kashmir. Some authors visible are A. S. Dulat, Wajahat Habibullah, Rajiv Dogra, A. G. Noorani, Prem Shankar Jha, Tariq Ali and Radha Kumar.

Writers produce books "documenting everything (in Jammu and Kashmir) from folklore to political happenings, to the sufferings of people". A number of young writers are seen.[11]

Gulshan Books is the only bookshop-library on a lake in Jammu and Kashmir.[12]

Media coverage of the Kashmir conflict

A study by Chindu Sreedharan concluded the dominance of "anti-peace news" in the overall coverage of Kashmir suggesting that the press in India and Pakistan has a counterproductive role in the Kashmir issue and that the "coverage was vigorously government-led and intensely 'negative'".[13][14] A study in the Pakistan Journal of History and Culture found that newspapers of both countries (India and Pakistan) were "setting the agenda on Kashmir issue positively in the light of foreign policy of their respective country".[15]

A Reuters Institute Fellowship paper titled "Media Propaganda and the Kashmir Dispute: A Case Study of the Kashmir Floods" based on an analysis of the New Delhi-based media’s coverage of the 2014 floods in Kashmir, the study concludes that "its reporting was biased and subjective". Almost all the coverage focused on the rescue efforts of the Indian armed forces. while the contribution made by local volunteers in providing relief was. The paper established that The Times of India devoted 57% of its coverage "specifically to the army’s relief efforts" while NDTV focused 97% of its content "on the army and government’s role in the crisis".[16]

Attacks on journalists in the Kashmir conflict

Since 1990, the total number of journalists who have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir is 19.[2]

The first major killing in Jammu and Kashmir by militants was of Lassa Kaul, the Director of Srinagar Doordarshan in February 1990, outside his house in Bemina.[17][18] This was followed by the killing of P.N. Handoo of the State Information Department. Militant and terrorist groups also "imposed a ban on the distribution of national newspapers and Kashmir Times and Daily Excelsior, both published in English from Jammu".[19][20] Ghulam Muhammad Lone and his eight year old son were killed in 1994 by gunmen.[21] On 10 August 2000, a grenade killed seven journalists including Pradeep Bhatia, a journalist from Hindustan Times.[22] Asiya Jeelani, a print reporter, died after a van in a landmine blast in Kupwara.[23] The most recent killing of a journalist, Shujaat Bukhari, happened in June 2018.[24]

The counter the Pakistani misinformation campaign the central government allocated Rs 430 crore for upgrading and improving Doordarshan and All India Radio for Jammu and Kashmir in 2004.[1]

Prohibitive measures against media

A Press Council of India report in 2017 titled "Media and Media Scenario of J&K" in 2017 states that “journalists in Kashmir have to manage the reality of walking on the tightrope amidst the threats of gun and political arm-twisting”.[5] Security forces consider photojournalists as "instigating protestors", while the protestors call them "government agents".[3]

Arrest of journalists

Kamran Yusuf, a freelance Kashmiri photojournalist, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 5 September 2017 and was released on bail on 14 March 2018. During this time, he was lodged in the Tihar Jail, New Delhi.[25][26] The bail petition was opposed by the NIA.[27] In an earlier case, Dawn reported that on 19 August 2011, Showkat Shafi, a freelance photojournalist was "beaten by government forces" and then taken to the nearest police station. After his release, he had to be hospitalised.[28]

Media censorship

In 2016, newspaper publications were banned for three days in Kashmir.[4]

On 24 August 2017, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sent a letter to Twitter under Section 69A of the IT Act to censor content. Following this Twitter users received official legal complaints from Twitter.[29]

List of News Media in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Kashmir Uzma
  • Daily Udaan
  • The Kashmir Walla
  • Global News Service - Kashmir
  • Kashmir News Observer
  • Times Now News
  • Khalsa Express
  • JK Update
  • Daily Taskeen
  • The Bold Voice
  • The Chenab Times
  • Lazawal
  • Sada e Kohistan
  • Kashmir Glory
  • Kashmir Monitor
  • The Kashmiriyat
  • Gulistaan News
  • The Sree Times
  • Daily Azaan e Saher

See also

References
  1. Communication, Compiled & Edited by Research, Reference and Training Division-National Documentation Centre on Mass Communication (2016). Mass Media in India - 2004. Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. ISBN 9788123023380.
  2. "The Numbers Prove Kashmir Is a Highly Unsafe Place for Journalists". The Wire. The Wire Staff. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Maqbool, Majid (2 September 2016). "Life of a Kashmiri Photojournalist: Abuse, Hostility and Taking Risks to Tell The Story". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  4. Rashid, Toufiq (17 July 2016). "Kashmir newspapers raided, printing banned for 3 days to 'ensure peace'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  5. Maqbool, Majid (15 October 2017). "Despite Numerous Challenges, J&K Media Is Growing, Says Press Council of India". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  6. Nazir, Aijaz (2 July 2018). "Kashmir loses its cinema halls to prolonged conflict". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  7. Shekhawat, Gazal (7 November 2017). "KWFF renews debate over reopening of cinema halls in Kashmir valley". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  8. "Radio Kashmir holds function". Daily Excelsior. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  9. "Website of Radio Kashmir Jammu launched". India Today. PTI. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Mohan, Archis (6 February 2016). "The borderline cases of Jammu & Kashmir". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. Mirani, Haroon (28 December 2018). "2018: A year on my shelf". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  12. "This Kashmiri publishing house has entered Limca Book of Records. Here's why". Times Now News. 19 January 2018. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  13. Sreedharan, C., (2009). Reporting Kashmir: an analysis of the conflict coverage in Indian and Pakistani newspapers. Doctorate Thesis (Doctorate). Bournemouth University. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017.
  14. "Dr Chindu Sreedharan - Bournemouth University Staff Profile Pages". Bournemouth University. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  15. Ali, Shahzad; Fozia, Perveen (2015). "Representation of Kashmir Issue in the Mainstream Newspapers of Pakistan and India: A Test of Media Conformity Theory" (PDF). Pakistan Journal of History and Culture. Vol.XXXVI, No.2: 46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2019.
  16. Khalid, Wasim (August 2016). Media Propaganda and the Kashmir Dispute: A Case Study of the Kashmir Floods Retrieved 3 February 2019. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019.
  17. Gigoo, Siddhartha (17 January 2016). "To Die While Dreaming of Return". The Wire. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  18. Khosa, Aasha (16 March 2012). "A brave chronicler of Kashmir's militancy". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  19. Rai, Ajai K. (June 2000). "Conflict situations and the media: A critical look". Strategic Analysis. 24 (3): 585–601. doi:10.1080/09700160008455233. ISSN 0970-0161.
  20. K. Rai, Ajai. (2000). Conflict situations and the media: A critical look. Strategic Analysis. 24. 585-601. 10.1080/09700160008455233 - via ResearchGate.
  21. Raina, Irfan (3 May 2017). "World Press Freedom Day: When a reporter upheld truth at the cost of his life". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  22. "Pradeep Bhatia". Committee to Protect Journalists. 10 August 2000. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  23. "Asiya Jeelani". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  24. "Killing of Kashmir journalist shakes India". BBC. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  25. "Kashmiri photojournalist Kamran Yousuf released from Delhi Jail". Greater Kashmir. 14 March 2018. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  26. "India releases photojournalist Kamran Yousuf on bail". Committee to Protect Journalists. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  27. "Court grants bail to Kashmiri photojournalist". Business Standard India. IANS. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  28. Shah, Fahad (24 August 2011). "The fate of journalism in Kashmir". DAWN. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  29. "On Centre's Request, Twitter Blocks Accounts, Tweets Over Kashmir Content". The Wire. 5 September 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.

Further reading
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