Officials said that Sunday was the first day without any civilian casualty since the violence engulfed the Valley on July 9, following the killing of Hizb Commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight with the forces on July 8.
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A statement of the newspaper editors, printers and publishers of Kashmir issued said they strongly “condemned” the alleged government action.
State government spokesman and Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar had said Friday the ban was aimed at “saving lives and strengthening peace efforts”.
The meeting, which was called for reviewing the “press emergency” imposed by the government on printing and distribution of newspapers, asked the state government to own up the raids that were carried out on the printing presses during the intervening night of July 15 and 16 when printed newspapers and plates were seized, and even the printing staff was detained.
When a senior cabinet minister and government spokesperson in no ambiguous terms tells editors of Srinagar-based dailies to shut, the decision to gag the media amid heightened security restrictions in the Kashmir Valley can not be “local”. “Mehbooba is, of course, fighting many challenges and one of them is a deep division in her government”, said Fayaz Ahmed Jan, a political science teacher at a Srinagar college.
In addition to the printing ban, cellular and internet services were absent and landline phone access limited throughout Kashmir, except in its main city of Srinagar, creating an information void.
The protests, marked by clashes between rock-throwing Kashmiris and troops firing live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas, persisted despite a strict curfew in place for the eleventh straight day Tuesday.
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“The prime minister, who has single-handedly transformed India’s global image, should take upon himself the task of transforming India’s image in Kashmir”, he writes. “People want to know what’s happening around and when we fail to provide news, rumor mill takes over”. On 21st July shutdown will continue till 2:00 pm,”a joint statement issued by Hurriyat Conference Chairmen, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik said today”. The standard line followed by China in recent years on issues relating to Kashmir was that it is an issue between India and Pakistan left over from history and should be properly handled by the two sides through dialogue and consultation.
