Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) condemns the efforts by vested interests aimed at questioning the credibility of Kashmir media corps, especially the newspapers being published from Srinagar. It sees the mudslinging on some of the institutions and editors as a deliberate attempt to play the old game ‘give the dog a bad name and hang him’.  

The propaganda being unleashed at various levels, especially the social media, by people living far away from the conflict, is aimed at throttling the voices of people and pointing fingers at the history that the media has recorded at a huge cost in last more than 25 years. Media in Kashmir has reported the conflict at a massive cost and has lost more than a dozen people while discharging their duties. It, at the same time, has enabled the media to handle conflict of other cultures which is evident by the coverage that Kashmiri journalists did of Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Libya, and other volcanic spots of the world. 

 At a recent emergency meeting, the KEG discussed the highly objectionable commentary about the Srinagar based newspaper of a Delhi based activist and academic Madhu Kishwar. While she retains the right to contest, defend and fight the legal case she is facing in the court of law –Shujaat Bukhari, the Editor of Rising Kashmir has filed a case against her on basis of serious accusations and allegations she had made in her tweets against him, Ms Kishwar must avoid having a parallel trail on social website outside the courtroom. She must trust the court and wait for the disposal of the case.  

KEG condemns Ms Kishwar’s allegations that the complainant, a respectable member of the KEG – is linked to militants and stone-pelters.  

 The media body takes the pride in stating that media in Kashmir, both newspapers and the working journalists, maintain the highest degree of professionalism. They also know how to protect its rights and objectivity and how to prevent a possible enforced impartiality.

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