The Valley has witnessed widespread violence since July 8, when Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was shot dead in an encounter with security forces. Cable television is also reported to have been shut down.
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“The situation in the valley remained more or less under control”, a police spokesperson told IANS.
“They later reached Press Enclave and seized a vehicle (loaded with printed copies)”, the daily said on its web edition.
A police party from Budgam Police raided the Rising Kashmir Press at Sheikhpora, Budgam and seized copies of the English daily, Rising Kashmir, Urdu daily, Buland Kashmir and Kashmir daily Sangarmaal early Saturday morning. Barring BSNL post-paid telephone and broadband internet services, all private mobile telephone services have been snapped. Since the 1990s, more than 68,000 people have been killed in Kashmir’s uprising against Indian rule and the subsequent Indian military crackdown.
Almost 1900 people have been injured, 125 with bullets and 595 due to pellets till Thursday following the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani last week, the state government told J&K high court on Friday.
Editors and journalists held a protest march in Srinagar late Saturday, carrying placards reading “Stop censorship” and “We want freedom of speech”.
However, Bukhari said that it is for the first time that the government have officially banned newspapers from publishing.
“The clampdown was necessitated as Pakistani channels that are beamed here through cable television network have launched a campaign aimed at fomenting trouble here”, said a Jammu and Kashmir government minister who declined to be named.
The publishers said the meeting felt it was not possible to publish the newspapers in view of this direction from the state government.
Another English daily, Kashmir Reader said, “The posse of police seized the copies of Kashmir Reader”.
Newspaper editors denounced the government action and termed it “gagging and enforcing emergency on media”.
Nearly for 10 days the valley has been completely shut down with no phone lines working and internet facility had also been completely off. Clampdown on printing and distribution of newspaper remained in effect a day after it was issued.
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With the situation in Jammu and Kashmir continuing to simmer on the tense side, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sent a two-member team to the Valley to see the ground reality and take stock of the situation.
