ISLAMABAD – Three Kashmir journalists have been accused by Indian police of”anti-national” activities in what critics say is an attempt by authoritiesto intimidate media during the coronavirus epidemic.
Tensions have been high in the restive Himalayan region since India revokedits semi-autonomous status in early August and imposed a strict curfew toquell any unrest.
Freelance photographer Masrat Zahra was charged Monday under newly expandedanti-terror laws and questioned by police on Tuesday.
A police statement said her social media posts “can provoke the public todisturb law and order”, and accused her of “frequently uploadinganti-national posts with criminal intention”.
Peerzada Ashiq, a Kashmir-based journalist with The Hindu newspaper, wasbooked Monday for spreading “fake news” and “misinformation”.
Police claimed he falsely reported that coronavirus testing inMuslim-majority Kashmir was halted after kits were diverted to neighbouringHindu-majority Jammu.
Freelance journalist and political commentator Gowhar Geelani, meanwhile,was booked late Tuesday after police accused him of “glorifying terrorism”in social media posts.
Police in New Delhi this week also used the anti-terror law to chargeseveral Muslim student activists for allegedly plotting riots earlier thisyear.
None of the journalists was detained.
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Zahra, 26, told AFP she was merely posting her published work on socialmedia and had no political agenda.
The Editors Guild of India said the accusations against Zahra and Ashiqwere a “gross misuse of power” meant to “strike terror into journalists”.
“Harassment and intimidation of journalists through draconian laws…threatens the efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic and createsan atmosphere of fear and reprisal,” Amnesty International’s Avinash Kumaradded in a statement.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders called for the withdrawal of the”flimsy charges” against Zahra.
Kashmir has waged a three-decade-long armed rebellion against Indian rulewith tens of thousands of lives, mostly civilians, lost in the conflict.
The riots were the worst religious violence to break out for decades inDelhi, with more than 50 people killed in the clashes between Muslims andHindus earlier this year. -APP/AFP