Kashmir Editors Guild condemns BJP leader Lal Singh's threat to journalists

Srinagar: The Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) on Saturday condemned former minister and BJP leader Lal Singh’s statement threatening Kashmiri journalists. “KEG has condemned the criminal statement of Singh who has issued a direct threat to the Kashmir media. Singh, who was earlier being termed as a serious sufferer of foot-in-mouth disease, has moved way ahead and issued a direct threat to the media in Kashmir,” a spokesman of the KEG said in a statement in Srinagar. [caption id=“attachment_1817357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BJP leader Lal Singh. News18 Hindi[/caption] Singh, a BJP MLA, has warned Kashmiri journalists to draw a line between reporting facts and supporting terrorists or face the fate of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari, who was shot dead by militants. “Kashmiri journalists have created an erroneous atmosphere and I would like to ask them to draw a line…You want to live like what happened to Basharat (Shujaat Bukhari)…Take care of yourselves and draw a line so that the brotherhood is not broken and it is maintained so that progress and development is ensured,” Singh told reporters in Jammu on Friday. In a tweet, the BJP MLA said, “There is need to draw a line between reporting facts and supporting terrorists and their sympathisers. Misinterpretation has become a norm and reporting facts a rarity. Journalistic freedom is absolute but not at the cost of nation and nationalism.” The guild said, “Singh’s statement indicates that he holds some information about Bukhari’s murder and must be investigated. KEG reserves the right to lodge a police case against the lawmaker who, earlier as well, named a number of reporters for his fall from grace in wake of the Kathua probe, now in a trial stage.” Singh and his colleague Chander Prakash Ganga had resigned on April 13 over their participation in an earlier rally in support of the accused in the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua district. “The Congress-turned-BJP politician has seemingly talked on Kashmir media from a point of strength and possible information about the recent killing in Srinagar,” the spokesman said. He also said the guild was perturbed over the sluggish pace with which the investigation into Bukhari’s murder are moving ahead. Bukhari and his two personal security officers were shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside the newspaper’s office in the heart of Srinagar on 14 June.