India Blocks An Independent News Media in Kashmir

Srinagar, MINA – Indian authorities blocked Kashmir Walla, an independent news media in Kashmir on the grounds of government orders.

Chairman Kashmir Walla said his staff was kicked out of his office after Indian authorities blocked access to their website and social media accounts.

The blockade added to concerns about press freedom in the disputed region, according to a statement by Kashmir Walla, a media based in the capital Srinagar.

“We have had a terrible nightmare,” the statement continued, NBC News reported, Tuesday.

Earlier, in February 2022, its founder and editor, Fahad Shah, was arrested under the anti-terrorism and sedition laws.

“We woke up with a death blow to find access to our website and our social media accounts blocked,” he continued.

The outlet said its service provider said the website had been blocked by order of the government.

His Facebook page, which has nearly 500,000 followers, is also no longer available in India. Meanwhile his account on X, formerly Twitter, appeared with a message saying it had been blocked in response to a legal request.

The outlet added that it was vacating its office after the owner provided the vacancy notice.

“This blurry sensor is heartbreaking,” says the outlet, which was founded more than a decade ago.

“There’s not much left for us to say anymore,” he added.

Critics accuse Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who is expected to run for a third term in elections next year, of cracking down on press freedom, particularly in Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region.

In August 2019, Modi revoked the limited autonomy that Indian-administered Kashmir had enjoyed for 70 years and placed it under federal control, an order that was followed by a months-long internet blackout.

Human rights defenders say civil liberties in Kashmir have been curtailed since the order. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)