Brussels, October 21, 2020 (PPI-OT):The Chairman of Kashmir Council Europe (KCEU), Ali Raza Syed, has strongly condemned the sealing of the office of Kashmir Times, a leading daily of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, by the Indian authorities.
Kashmir Times owner, Anuradha Bhasin, in statement on social media said that without any reason and advance notice, the authorities on Monday sealed the office of the newspaper at Press Enclave in Srinagar.
Ali Raza Syed in a statement issued in Brussels while reacting over the anti-press move said, this shameful act is a severe violation of freedom of press and freedom of expression. He praised the owners of the IIOJK-based newspapers and their journalists who are engaged in revealing the facts about prevailing grim situation specially exposing the gross human right violations being perpetrated by Indian troops in the occupied territory.
He said, we really admire the struggle of Kashmiri media people who highlight the truth despite of risk to their life.
The KCEU Chairman expressed serious concern over lack of freedom of expression specially freedom of press and violations of rights of press and expression by Indian state agencies and forces’ personnel in the occupied territory. Media censorship by the Indian authorities in IIOJK is a routine matter as media persons are being attacked and harassed in the occupied territory, he said.
Ali Raza Syed urged the world influential governments and international human rights organizations to pressurize India to allow the newspapers and local and foreign journalists to report freely from IIOJK.
He also expressed solidarity with owners and journalists of the occupied territory specially Kashmir Times and asked the intentional community as well as world media watchdogs such as Reporters Sans Frontiers to insure safety and security of the media persons in IIOJK.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org