Podcast; Voices from the Lockdown: 'Never before', say Kashmiri journalists about reporting under communication blockade since 5 August
The 5 August announcement to abrogate Article 370 and downgrade Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories came with massive curbs — all of Kashmir was shutdown with huge deployment of the armed forces along with a 100 percent clampdown on communications — no landlines, no mobile services, no internet.
-
5 August announcement to abrogate Article 370 came with massive curbs. All of Kashmir was shutdown with huge deployment of the armed forces along with a 100 percent clampdown on communications - no landlines, no mobile services, no internet
-
For the longest time, nobody knew what was happening in Kashmir. Families outside of Kashmir couldn't contact people, within Kashmir people couldn't contact each other
-
Local journalists had no way of updating their websites or even sending reports to Indian or international media agencies. For close to three weeks, Kashmiri journalists had to send information through pen drives to Delhi
How does one gauge the response of a people to a government move if the functioning of the fourth estate, which is supposed to remain representative of the voices of the people, is hampered?
The 5 August announcement to abrogate Article 370 and downgrade Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories came with massive curbs — all of Kashmir was shutdown with huge deployment of the armed forces along with a 100 percent clampdown on communications — no landlines, no mobile services, no internet. While we had reports coming from Ladakh and Jammu about responses of people, there were none from Kashmir.
Local journalists organised a protest on 3 October against the communication blockade. Getty Images
For the longest time, nobody knew what was happening in Kashmir. Families outside of Kashmir couldn't contact people, within Kashmir people couldn't contact each other. Local journalists had no way of updating their websites or even sending reports to Indian or international media agencies. For close to three weeks, Kashmiri journalists had to send information through pen drives to Delhi. Several reports detailed how journalists were stopped from accessing parts of Kashmir and were being harmed when they started to report.
Reports from Kashmir were disparate, even. Many Indian news channels started carrying reports claiming normalcy in Valley while international agencies like BBC and the New York Times reported on unrest, protests and mayhem in Kashmir. All this while most local journalists continued to remain cut off.
Journalists organised a protest on 3 October, urging the government to revoke the communication blockade and restore access to mobile and internet services. The government had announced that it will restore access to postpaid mobile services on Saturday, which was later pushed to Monday (14 October).
Firstpost speaks to Quratulain Rehbar and Mansoor Peer to understand the difficulties that journalists have been facing while reporting in Valley since 5 August.
also read
Explained: Why California is considering a ban on caste discrimination
Democratic lawmaker Aisha Wahab introduced the bill just a month after Seattle voted to outlaw caste discrimination. This issue has come to the fore in California since 2020 when the employment regulator sued Cisco Systems on behalf of a low-caste engineer. But some claim it will further fuel instan
Why museums are renaming artworks and artists as Ukrainian, not Russian
The adjustments reflect a movement that is currently underway at museums all over the world, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Great Layoff continues in 2023: Accenture, Walmart, Indeed announce job cuts
Accenture, which currently employs over seven lakh people, has said it will cut 19,000 workers, while job portal Indeed has announced a stuff reduction of 15 per cent in ‘nearly every team, function, level, and region’