Kashmir's Media in Peril A Situation Report

International Federation of Journalists

SUMMARY

November 23, 2023

This report by the International Federation of Journalists highlights the issues and challenges faced by reporters in Kashmir, including killings, attacks, intimidation and threats. Twenty-one journalists have been killed in the past 30 years. Laws like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Public Safety Act 1978 (PSA) allow restrictions to be placed on the media. In recent times, internet shutdowns and censorship have also restricted information flow and the rights of journalists to report.This situation report on Kashmir is based on meetings with journalists, young reporters, press photographers, editors and media owners in Kashmir in November 2017.

Topics: context, emergence of independent media, journalists risking life and limb, the need for professionalism, access to information, government control, organizing for journalists’ rights
Terms: denial of the right to free speech, denial of the right to free press, extrajudicial killings, Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA), government censorship, government control of information, information blockades, media shutdowns, internet shutdowns, arbitrary ban of Kashmir Reader in October 2016, death of Sahaf Siddiqui in 2014 floods, September 2016 blinding of Zuhaib Maqbool, September 2017 arbitrary detention of Kamran Yousuf, National Investigation Authority (NIA), online abuse and intimidation

ARTICLE PREVIEW

Key Issues

Challenges of living and reporting in a conflict zone, balancing pressures from all sides: government, security forces, militants, the Kashmiri public

Precarious working conditions: low wages, no job security, benefits, medical, life or risk insurance

Physical safety: No protective gear, insurance or safety training
Government control through regulating advertisement revenue: pressure to toe the official line or face financial insecurity

Lack of unity among journalists: several associations but no common platform
More vulnerable: women journalists, reporters living and working in remote areas; photojournalists at the frontline; Urdu media disadvantaged

Access to information: information controlled by government and security forces; out-of-bounds areas, telephone and internet shutdowns; no system in place to get official version of incidents from police or security agencies

State control: regulation by shutting down newspapers (Kashmir Reader)
Recent cases: Shafat Siddiqui – photojournalist drowned in 2014 floods; Mir Javed and Zuhaib Maqbool blinded by pellets in 2016; Kashmir Reader arbitrarily banned for three months in October 2016; Kamran Yousuf, detained without charge by National Investigation Agency, September 2017.

For most media houses, the small scale of operations and lack of standard procedures leaves journalists and media staff vulnerable and their jobs insecure. Precarious working conditions are exacerbated by the conflict. Salaries are poor, with journalists working for as little as Rs 5000 (less than USD 100) per month. Interns often carry out major tasks at the paper, sometimes with no salary for up to six months. In such a scenario, there are no appointment letters, no medical benefits, insurance or pensions or provident fund. Written contracts are not drawn up and jobs and work assignments go according to oral agreements which are not binding. Reporters who travel for stories usually end up paying for conveyance themselves, unless they are lucky enough to hitch a ride with their colleagues from the national or international media on their bikes or vehicles. Photojournalists buy their own equipment, having to bear the costs of repairs and upgrades themselves. Phone bills are also borne by reporters.

Link to Original Article