Omar Abdullah Decries Harassment of Journos in J&K

 Srinagar: Just hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled three-day official visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah voiced strong concern over what he described as the harassment and intimidation of journalists in the Union Territory.

Addressing the Legislative Assembly while winding up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Lieutenant Governor’s Address, Abdullah said that media persons were being unfairly targeted by the police for publishing “legitimate stories.”

He specifically referred to the case of Indian Express correspondent Basharat Masood and another journalist who were summoned to the police office after reporting on the police’s profiling of mosques and individuals associated with their management. Abdullah further highlighted another incident in which a journalist was detained for six hours by police simply for reporting that snow had not been cleared from roads in Bandipora district.

“The police should not have done profiling of the mosque in the first place. If it was warranted for any reason, they should have faith in what they were doing. Why kill the messenger?” Abdullah asked, underscoring the need to respect press freedom.

The issue of media harassment had already been raised earlier in the week by CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, who stressed in the Assembly that the fourth estate plays a vital role in strengthening democracy and democratic ideals. Abdullah’s remarks added weight to these concerns, particularly given that law and order in Jammu and Kashmir, as a Union Territory, is directly overseen by the Centre through the Lieutenant Governor.

Responding to criticism from Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, Abdullah also revisited the painful memories of the 2010 unrest, which saw the killing of dozens of Kashmiri youth, including teenager Tufail Mattoo. He admitted that those incidents continue to haunt him. “Regret is not a strong word. I never tried to suppress or hide those unfortunate incidents nor posed to show sympathies for the victims. Till death I will feel sorry for those happenings,” he said, acknowledging his enduring remorse.

In drawing a contrast, Abdullah pointed to the events following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in 2016, when security forces’ actions led to widespread casualties among youth. He criticised then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for showing no remorse and, in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, justifying the deaths by remarking that the victims had not gone to “buy milk and chocolates” from security installations.