Digipub News India Foundation issued a statement today condemning the detention of journalist Fahad Shah in connection with his reports on an attack on two photojournalists in Srinagar.
DigiPub strongly condemns the detention of Fahad Shah, Editor-in-Chief of the Kashmirwalla, simply for reporting on police violence. pic.twitter.com/LCnZGTECUC
— DIGIPUB News India Foundation (@DigipubIndia) March 6, 2021
The two photojournalists, BBC's Shafat Farooq and freelancer Saqib Majeed, were allegedly "assaulted by the police when protests began in Srinagar’s Nowhatta area on Friday afternoon", Scroll reported. The attack was condemned by the Kashmir Press Club.
Shah is the editor-in-chief of the Kashmir Walla. He tweeted that he had been summoned to the police station over "objections" about Kashmir Walla's report on the attack on the photojournalists.
Hello all, I was called to a police station at 6.30pm. The officials had objections about story by @tkwmag published today about protests/journalist thrashing in Srinagar. I explained the story was based on facts with all details. I'm back now, thank you so much for your support.
— Fahad Shah (@pzfahad) March 5, 2021
In its statement, Digipub said that Shah's detention was "without basis, reflecting the fraught conditions under which the media operate in Kashmir". It also noted that it "follows a pattern of intimidation against him in particular and other journalists in general for doing no more than their job".
Shah had been detained by security forces in 2017, and again in 2020. Digipub's statement said he had been summoned by the police "half a dozen times" over the past three years in connection with reports published by the Kashmir Walla.
Also Read: 'I will drag you like a dog, you bastard': Kashmiri journalist recounts chilling detention by police
The statement urged the government to "stop the frequent, illegal and growing intimidation of the media and the selective targeting of independent voices, such as Mr Shah's."
The Committee to Protect Journalists had also flagged Shah's detention yesterday and demanded his immediate release.
Srinagar police summoned Fahad Shah, the editor of The Kashmir Walla, today at 6:30 pm in relation to a news story published by the outlet, according to his colleague Yashraj Sharma.
— CPJ Asia (@CPJAsia) March 5, 2021
Shah is yet to come out of the police station, Sharma added. CPJ demands his immediate release https://t.co/HIvM5wPm5X
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