Ishfaq Reshi, journalist of banned paper ‘Kashmir Reader’, booked for report naming “government forces”

The report in the newspaper quoted residents saying that police, paramilitary troopers and soldiers fired incendiary projectiles into the harvested rice crop that had been left to dry in sun.

Jammu, Dec 4: A journalist of a banned newspaper ‘Kashmir Reader’ was booked by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for a report published on September 28. The report that was published was on crop-burning that quoted the villagers for blaming the government forces for the alleged burning of crops.  As per reports by Indian Express, the newspaper report was published in the newspaper on the front page with three photographs, and quoted residents of Budran, Aadina, Kanihama and Mazhama villages in Budgam district as saying that “police, paramilitary troopers and soldiers (had) fired incendiary projectiles into the harvested rice crop that had been left to dry in sun”.

The journalist named Ishfaq Reshi, a student of convergent journalism at Central University of Kashmir has been booked under Section 505 pertaining to publication or circulation of “statements of conducing public mischief. Reshi was a trainee reporter with Kashmir Reader and was associated with the publication since April 2016. The newspaper ‘Kashmir Reader’ was banned by the J&K government on October 2. Srinagar District Magistrate Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone had asked the English daily to stop its publication forthwith till further orders “so that disturbance of public tranquility is prevented”.

Reports by Indian Express stated that the trainee journalist was presented before a Munsif court in Magam on Friday. He was then directed to apply for bail from the sessions court in Budgam. “I was in police detention during the day (on Friday) and allowed to go home in the evening. There were allegations from villagers. I had gone on the ground to verify the facts and reported the same”, Reshi said.

The J&K Police Media Centre in a statement on September 30 said that the incident has been maliciously linked with forces and some anti-social elements set on fire two haycocks at village Adina, Magam. On the receipt of the complaint, police took cognizance and lodged an FIR no. 159/16 in police station Magam and investigation has been taken up.(ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir journalist thrashed up by Ghulam Hanjura’s security staff)

In wake of the situation, when, Mir Hilal, Editor of Kashmir Reader was questioned about Reshi, he said, “The story in question is similar to what others reported. If there are similar stories in other publications too that were also rebutted by police, why is there an FIR only against this story? They did not send any rebuttal to us and the statement issued two days later did not specifically mention our paper.”

However,as per statement of the Sub-divisional Police Officer, Magam, Syed Fayaz Ahmad,  Reshi had circulated fake news regarding the incident. “It was a normal case of burning for which he had blamed the forces. We produced him before the Munsif court on Friday. He was not under arrest,” SDPO Ahmad said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had earlier in October banned the publication of English daily Kashmir Reader and termed it as a threat to public tranquility. The Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone issued the order asking the newspaper to stop its publication forthwith. “I District Magistrate Srinagar do hereby direct the printer, published and owner of daily Kashmir Reader to abstain from printing and publishing of the newspaper namely Kashmir Reader till further orders so that disturbance of public tranquility is prevented,” the order reads.

The order further stated that, ‘It has been observed that the contents published in the above Newspaper is of such nature that can easily cause incitement of acts of violence and disturbance of public tranquillity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Srinagar District in particular’.

(Image Credit: http://kashmirreader.com/)