The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday, 17 January, announced that the allotment of premises to Kashmir Press Club at Polo View, Srinagar will be cancelled. Further, the control of land and buildings of the club which belongs to the Estates Department will now revert to the same.
In a statement, the Department of Information and Public Relations claimed that “the government is concerned over the emergent situation which has arisen due to the unpleasant turn of events involving two rival warring groups using the banner of the Kashmir Press Club.”
Further, they alleged:
“The factual position is that KPC as a registered body has ceased to exist and its managing body too has come to a legal closure on 14 July 2021, the date on which its tenure came to an end.”
The statement went on to say that the government "is committed to a free and fair press and believes that journalists are entitled to all facilities, including a place for professional, educational, social, cultural, recreational and welfare activities."
"It also hopes that a duly registered bona fide society of all journalists shall be constituted as soon as possible and the same shall be able to approach the government for reallocation of the premises," the statement concluded.
'Journalism Is Not a Crime', Say Scribes
Soon after, Kashmir-based journalist Azaan Javaid took to Twitter to provide an update on the situation, with the hashtag 'Journalism is not a crime.'
Journalist Anando Bhakto said that the government's decision was intended to send the message that there could be no collective thinking, no questions asked, no collective articulation and no feature of a democracy.
Journalists Gargi Rawat and Vijaita Singh also reacted to the development. While the latter called it "well played and symbolic" of what has been happening in Kashmir of late, Singh commented that it showed "amazing clarity of work".
Journalist Aakash Hassan commented that this move left the freelancers most affected, while freelance journalist Quratulain Rehbar stated that "the option to work in a free space, share ideas with senior journalists" had been taken away.
Previously...
Earlier on Saturday, escorted by the security forces, a group of journalists carried out a 'coup' at the Kashmir Press Club (KPC), which is the biggest organisation of journalists in the Kashmir Valley.
The event took place only a day after the registration of the KPC was suspended by the Jammu and Kashmir government due to illegalities reported by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the J&K police, NDTV reported.
After the 'coup', the elected body of the press club had passed a resolution to nominate a committee of members for the purpose of holding polls.
The resolution stated, “The elected body has further resolved/decided to appoint/ nominate a committee with members from constituent/most media associations functional in Kashmir. While nominating the committee, care has been taken that it be broad-based and represents every section of the fraternity.”
The club had been reissued registration in late December last year but the J&K administration revoked it when the KPC announced it will hold elections for its members.
Expressing concerns of Sunday’s developments, the Editor’s Guild of India had said:
"The Editors Guild of India is aghast at the manner in which the office and the management of Kashmir Press Club, the largest journalists' association in the Valley, was forcibly taken over by a group of journalists with the help of armed policemen on 15 January 2022.”
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