New Delhi, Feb 6: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Sunday condemned the arrest of Fahad Shah, the editor of “The Kashmir Walla” news portal, and demanded his immediate release, urging the Jammu and Kashmir administration to “stop the harassment of journalists in the name of national security”.
In a statement, the editors’ body also demanded the immediate release of another journalist, Sajad Gul, who was arrested in Kashmir last month.
The EGI noted that Shah was arrested on the “specious ground” of glorifying terrorist activities, spreading fake news and inciting the public for creating a law-and-order situation, and said the space for media freedom has “progressively eroded” in Kashmir.
“The guild urges the state administration to respect democratic values and stop the harassment of journalists in the name of national security,” it said.
“The guild also demands immediate release of Fahad Shah as well as Sajad Gul, and to ensure that FIRs under harsh penal laws, intimidatory questioning and wrongful detainment are not used as tools for suppressing journalists’ rights,” it added.
The Jammu and Kashmir police arrested Shah on Friday for allegedly uploading anti-national content on social media with a “criminal intention” to provoke the public to disturb law and order.
The EGI noted that Shah was earlier questioned for four days over his reporting on “a deadly police raid” in Pulwama in late January that left four people dead. (PTI)
