New Delhi/Hyderabad, Jun 26: The Indian Journalists Union has strongly condemned the arrest Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, the editor of Urdu daily Afaaq  by the police in Srinagar following a late night raid at his premises on Monday.
IJU while terming the arrest as crass misuse of law and harassment of a reputed and veteran journalist, has added that it is an yet another attempt to muzzle the freedom of press in Kashmir. Qadri fortunately got bail in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate as the police was unable to furnish any details of the case, which apparently dates back to 1990. Importantly, the court also directed the police to explain its action, i.e. its investigation of the three-decade old case before finally swooping on Qadri’s residence at the dead of night. Welcoming the court’s action, IJU President and Member, Press Council of India, D Amar and IJU Secretary General and IFJ Vice President Sabina Inderjit said that action by police negated the rule of law in the state, now under Governor’s rule and demanded that an apology be tendered, as not only has Qadri spent over 35 years in public life, the same police station also verified and attested his antecedents for issuance of passport twice during the past 30 years.

Agreeing with Kashmir Editors Guild’s contention of how Qadri could be a ‘proclaimed offender’ if he is available at his office in the heart of Srinagar for over 15 hours daily, IJU demanded that J&K administration should refrain from unnecessarily harassing journalists and uphold independence of the media in J &K. IJU PR

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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