By Online Desk
On August 19, 2023, the journalists at the Independent news outlet ‘The Kashmir Walla’ woke up to the deadly blow of finding access to their website and social media accounts blocked by the Narendra Modi Government.
From Journalists being routinely summoned, and threatened. charged with terrorism and separatism to being shot dead in public view, the government of India has always had a small appetite for press freedom.
In its latest attack, ‘The Kashmir Walla’, an independent news website based in Kashmir, has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000.
“When we contacted our server provider on Saturday morning to ask why thekashmirwalla.com was inaccessible, they informed us that our website has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000. We discovered that our Facebook page, with nearly half a million followers, had been removed. As had our Twitter account, ‘in response to a legal demand, ” a statement issued by The Kashmir Walla said.
Statement: When we contacted The Kashmir Walla’s server provider to ask why https://t.co/zniqt5p3zU was inaccessible, they informed us that our website has been blocked in India by the MEITY under the IT Act, 2000. pic.twitter.com/3FOwFEJwVU
— yashraj sharma (@yashjournals) August 20, 2023
The website’s editor Fahad Shah had been arrested in February last year under various terrorism charges. Despite securing bail twice, he was rearrested by the J&K police and eventually booked under the Public Safety Act, which allows imprisonment without a trial for up to a year.
Shah had first been arrested for purportedly sharing ‘anti-national’ content on social media and he was arrested five times in four months. The Kashmir Walla’s statement said this was the ‘beginning of the saga of his revolving door arrests’
In January 2022, a trainee reporter with the website, Sajad Gul, was arrested and charged with ‘criminal conspiracy’. The statement said Gul remains in prison in Uttar Pradesh under the Public Safety Act.
“This opaque censorship is gut-wrenching. There isn’t a lot left for us to say anymore,” the statement said. “Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from the authorities while we watched our being ripped apart, bit by bit. The Kashmir Walla’s story is the tale of the rise and fall of press freedom in the region.”
The Kashmir Walla further said that they were not aware of the specifics of why the website has been blocked in India; why its Facebook page has been removed; and why its Twitter account has been withheld.
“We have not been served any notice nor is there any official order regarding these actions that is in the public domain so far,” read the statement.
This is not the first time, the media was silenced in Kashmir. On October 19, 2020,’ The Kashmir Times’ office located among several other newspaper offices in Srinagar’s Press Enclave area by the Estates Department, without any notice.
On August 19, 2023, the journalists at the Independent news outlet ‘The Kashmir Walla’ woke up to the deadly blow of finding access to their website and social media accounts blocked by the Narendra Modi Government.
From Journalists being routinely summoned, and threatened. charged with terrorism and separatism to being shot dead in public view, the government of India has always had a small appetite for press freedom.
In its latest attack, ‘The Kashmir Walla’, an independent news website based in Kashmir, has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“When we contacted our server provider on Saturday morning to ask why thekashmirwalla.com was inaccessible, they informed us that our website has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000. We discovered that our Facebook page, with nearly half a million followers, had been removed. As had our Twitter account, ‘in response to a legal demand, ” a statement issued by The Kashmir Walla said.
Statement: When we contacted The Kashmir Walla’s server provider to ask why https://t.co/zniqt5p3zU was inaccessible, they informed us that our website has been blocked in India by the MEITY under the IT Act, 2000. pic.twitter.com/3FOwFEJwVU
— yashraj sharma (@yashjournals) August 20, 2023
The website’s editor Fahad Shah had been arrested in February last year under various terrorism charges. Despite securing bail twice, he was rearrested by the J&K police and eventually booked under the Public Safety Act, which allows imprisonment without a trial for up to a year.
Shah had first been arrested for purportedly sharing ‘anti-national’ content on social media and he was arrested five times in four months. The Kashmir Walla’s statement said this was the ‘beginning of the saga of his revolving door arrests’
In January 2022, a trainee reporter with the website, Sajad Gul, was arrested and charged with ‘criminal conspiracy’. The statement said Gul remains in prison in Uttar Pradesh under the Public Safety Act.
“This opaque censorship is gut-wrenching. There isn’t a lot left for us to say anymore,” the statement said. “Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from the authorities while we watched our being ripped apart, bit by bit. The Kashmir Walla’s story is the tale of the rise and fall of press freedom in the region.”
The Kashmir Walla further said that they were not aware of the specifics of why the website has been blocked in India; why its Facebook page has been removed; and why its Twitter account has been withheld.
“We have not been served any notice nor is there any official order regarding these actions that is in the public domain so far,” read the statement.
This is not the first time, the media was silenced in Kashmir. On October 19, 2020,’ The Kashmir Times’ office located among several other newspaper offices in Srinagar’s Press Enclave area by the Estates Department, without any notice.
