Srinagar: Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Thursday described the unprecedented and sudden sealing of the Srinagar offices of Kashmir Times (KT) as reprehensible which has disturbing implications for the media of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In a statement, the Guild termed the government’s move as “vindictive and injurious not just to the Kashmir Times, but also to the entire free media in Jammu and Kashmir”.
It called upon the government to restore the status quo and create circumstances in which the media can function without hindrance and without fear.
“Newspapers and Magazines in the undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir were already ravaged by conflict, with editors and correspondents working against difficult odds,” said a statement issued by EGI.
It said that publications have steadily lost advertising over the last decade and the communications shutdowns followed by the pandemic lockdown have totally stopped the trickle of revenue.
“The online editions are crippled by the slow internet speed imposed by the government. The Kashmir Times, a 55-year-old publication, was forced to shut down its Srinagar edition in March.
“Instead of assisting the media, which was most needed in these dark times, the administration without any notice took control of the office of Kashmir Times, putting its lock on the door. The newspaper editor Anuradha Bhasin, and the staff have been denied access to records, computers, furniture and equipment in the office,” it said.

KR Desk