The decision to resume the publications came just hours after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met the editors who called on her here, assuring “independence of media”. He assured that all the injured people will be provided with medications.
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“Even if true, did Mehbooba Mufti come to know about it only on the third day of the ban”, asked a newspaper editor here.
The United States, while still avoiding a public stance, has been quietly engaged with both India and Pakistan for promoting a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, says the US State Department.
Kashmiri doctors have lamented the use of pellet-firing shotguns on protesters after more than 100 people suffered grievous injuries to their eyes in a weekend of ferocious violence following the killing of rebel leader Burhan Wani. “We have not taken any decision on it”.
Local newspapers in curfew-bound Kashmir have failed to hit the stands for the last three days after the government’s alleged “clampdown” on the media in the aftermath of widespread protests in the Valley.
Authorities have snapped all mobile Internet connectivity and also suspended calling facility on mobile phones across the Valley.
The latest fatality was reported Tuesday after a woman injured in Indian army firing overnight died in a hospital in Srinagar, a police officer said.
In view of the separatists asking people to hold protests, authorities have decided not to relax the curfew in the Valley, fearing the separatist-sponsored protests may trigger more violence.
The sources said army personnel allegedly opened fire at stone-throwing mob who had blocked the road near the Chhurrath village in Qazigund, some 70 km from here.
The blanket ban on newspapers comes amid a popular uprising to which the Indian authorities have responded by killing at least 42 Kashmiri civilians and wounding over 2,000 people.
“We have not heard anything from the government”. However, due to operational reasons, the publishers said, it won’t be possible for them to print newspapers for Tuesday morning.
The government had imposed the ban on Saturday after police raided newspaper printing presses and their offices, seizing printing material and copies of already printed papers.
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Rejecting “plebiscite” demands as an “outdated” idea, the government on Monday asserted that Kashmiris are “our own people” who are being “misguided” as it blamed Pakistan for the unrest in the valley and said all parties will be taken along in dealing with the situation. They said the Government put credibility of the newspapers at stake by disowning the media gag.
