First time in 20 years: Embedded journalism introduced in Kashmir

Kashmir becomes out-of-bounds for Kashmiri scribes; Curfew passes canceled, cameras seized, phones on scanner

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jul 8: For the first time in over 20 years of conflict, Government in Jammu & Kashmir state has imposed media emergency as the capital city has become out of bounds for all Kashmiri mediapersons and American-type embedded journalism has been introduced for convenience of the journalists pouring in from New Delhi.

With the National Conference-Congress ruling coalition falling in the panic mode and the Army being in the ‘stand-by mode’, Government has, for the first time in over two decades of armed strife, invoked an undeclared media emergency by barring Kashmiri mediapersons from reporting the current situation. Like the Americans did in war time in Iraq and Afghanistan, government has introduced embedded journalism to selectively facilitate New Delhi-based journalists’ maneuvering in Srinagar.

Correspondents and camera crews of national television news channels, particularly NDTV, CNN-IBN and News X, besides representatives of some national newspapers pouring in from New Delhi, were ferried today in armoured vehicles of the Indian Army in Srinagar. While reporting the “Army take over”, that was, in fact, nowhere in place in Kashmir valley, national television news channels succeeded in creating a fear-psychosis by repeatedly playing images of a brief flag march of Army on the National Highway Bypass. Like on Wednesday, a convoy cruised its way from Badami Bagh cantonment to Rawalpora and back to its barracks.

Watching the flag march on their television sets, residents in this capital city of 1.50 million people chose to confine themselves to indoors as they widely believed that Army had taken over and the JKP-CRPF combine they had crippled with months of stone pelting and slogan shouting had been replaced. It helped the authorities learn that the angry and outraged Srinagar populace was desirably responding to strong arm methods of riot management. ‘Yes, we have had some psychological dividends without actually going for the controversial intervention of military deployment’, admitted a senior official who was still worried over the idea of continuing curfew on Friday followed by Meraj-un-Nabi, one of the most important dates of Islamic calendar, on Saturday. Normally, over 200,000 Muslim devotees throng Hazratbal shrine around the anniversary of Prophet Mohammad’s spiritual ascendancy to Heavens.

Select journalists from New Delhi were provided all facilities by Police and armed forces. Many of them were picked up from their hotels and ferried to the spots of their choice in armoured vehicles of Army as well as police transport. Television crews were even taken to the strictly curfew-bound downtown and facilitated interaction with the bereaved family of 18-year-old Tufail Matoo who was the first youth to have died in teargas shelling by Police on June 11th.

On the second consecutive day today, New Delhi-based journalists kept comfortably shuttling between Police and Army formations, offices of senior government functionaries and residences of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the opposition PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti. On the other hand, Kashmiri correspondents of the national television channels and newspapers were not allowed to budge an inch out of their offices and residences. One of such journalists, who was covering the situation from his office, was directed by Police to pack up and shift his camera to a dingy interior on the premises. Only two of the Kashmiri mediapersons, working for national TV channels, were allowed to accompany their New Delhi-based seniors on an embedded operation.

Enforcing curfew strictly on the third consecutive day, Police and CRPF columns prevented all mediapersons of Kashmiri domicile from moving around and discharging their professional duties. While Srinagar District Magistrate, Meraj Ahmed Kakru, maintained that all curfew passes, previously issued to mediapersons, had been canceled on the advice of law and order agencies, he made it clear that no fresh passes were being issued from his office. Approached repeatedly by the aggrieved journalists, he did not respond to phone calls today. There was no statement on this divide of Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri journalists either from Police or from the headless Department of Information.

As this scheme of discrimination had been unfolded by officials yesterday itself and none of the local journalists were permitted movement in the capital city, editors of all daily newspapers were constrained to freeze publication. It was after many long years that no newspaper was published in Kashmir. Distributors of national dailies and weeklies, Abdullah News Agency, told Early Times that they had asked the publishers to stop sending their dailies, weeklies and magazines to Kashmir. According to them, it was for the first time in about 18 years that newsstands were closed and not a single publication was in circulation. On most of the 1572 days of curfew and bandh since 1990, newspaper publication and circulation had remained unaffected in Kashmir.

While a number of editors complained that their offices were being “raided”, sources, believed to be informed, claimed that telephones of certain Srinagar-based mediapersons had been put under surveillance by Police and intelligence agencies. Short Message Services on mobile phones have been suspended since last week. Internet and e-mail services are however operating without disturbance. A number of local camerapersons working for cable TV channels and even national news agencies complained that Police had roughed them up, raided their offices and seized their cameras.

In a host of statements, issued separately, Press Guild of Kashmir, Kashmir Press Association and Kashmir Journalistic Corps, as also some New Delhi-based unions of journalists have condemned current blockage of media in Valley and compared it with the Emergency days of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s government in 1975-77. Others have dismissed it as ‘Marshal Law’ and urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as well as Government of India to immediately issue curfew passes to Kashmiri journalists and let them operate like their New Delhi-based colleagues.

Meanwhile, declared and undeclared curfew remained in force all over Kashmir valley on the third consecutive day today. Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla and Anantnag have been reeling under curfew since last week. Reports said that thin groups of demonstrators violated curfew and clashed with Police and CRPF at around 30 places in Kashmir today. However, there were no reports of any major violation or clash. In downtown Srinagar and few other townships, anti-India, pro-Azadi and pro-Islam slogans were played on public address system of mosques.

However, no tension was visible today in certain uptown localities in Srinagar where Police and CRPF allowed a many private vehicles’ movement without curfew passes, scores of people were seen back on their morning and evening walk and public parks were packed to capacity with youngsters playing football and elders enjoying rest.

Official sources said that the central team, led by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, concluded its visit and returned to New Delhi with an assessment of the latest political and security situation. They said that the team would submit its report to Prime Minister for further discussion in a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security. Sources said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would discuss the situation with legislators of the ruling coalition here on June 11th before an all-party meeting on June 12th.

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