By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Srinagar: Demands for an explanation from National Investigation Agency over the arrest of Kashmiri photojournalist Kamran Yousuf have grown louder, with the Press Council of India issuing notices to DG NIA, J&K government Chief Secretary and others state officials.
The letter addressed to DG NIA, J&K government Chief Secretary and others said that the matter is prima facie concerned with the freedom of press in the country.
“The Press Council of India has viewed the incident (arrest of Kamran Yousuf) with concern and taken the suo moto cognisance of the matter under Regulation 13 of the Press Council (procedure for inquiry) Regulation, 1979,” reads the notice.
“Reply statement to this notice may please be filed within two weeks from the date of receipt of this letter to enable the further processing of the matter,” the notice said.
The Patiala house court in New Delhi on Saturday, September 16 extended the NIA custody of Yousuf by four days. The duo were produced before the Patiala House Court as their 10 days police custody had ended.The NIA had sought another seven days remand, however, the court extended their remand only for four days.
Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG), the editors body of Kashmir, has also expressed serious concern over the continuous detention of the photographer.
A spokesperson of the KEG said the agency had arrested Kamran Yousuf without spelling out the reasons and that doesn’t gel with the set legal norms prevalent in any democratic setup.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has also asked for immediate release of the photojournalist.
Yousuf’s photographs have been published in the Greater Kashmir, a local English-language daily, and Munsif TV, an English-language news channel, said the journalist’s grandfather, Ganai to CPJ. “Arshad Kaloo, a senior editor at the Greater Kashmir, said Yousuf was a freelance journalist, but declined to comment further to CPJ,” it said on its website.
“Indian authorities must stop trying to crush the independent press in the Jammu and Kashmir region,” said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney from New York. “Authorities should immediately release Kamran Yousuf.”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has termed the move by the central agency an attempt to intimidate the journalist community.
Stating that “photojournalists are required as part of their professional duty to be present at the places of protests and sit-ins and take photographs of these incidents, and such presence cannot be termed as participation in the incidents,” the IFJ said, “the arrest and detainment of freelance photojournalist Kamran Yusuf by the National Investigation Agency in Kashmir, India without formal charges is an attempt to intimidate the journalist community.”
Seeking Yusuf’s immediate release, the journalists’ body further urged the Centre to “ensure that the power granted to agencies, such as the NIA, is not misused against journalists.”
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, September 5 arrested Kamran Yusuf on allegations of instigating stone pelting.
Yusuf is a resident of volatile Pulwama district in South Kashmir and was well known among his peers for covering conflict and funerals of militants. He was a regular contributor to newspaper Greater Kashmir.
The arrest comes after NIA announced that it has identified 117 Kashmiris who it believes have been spreading unrest in the Valley. As part of its investigation, the group had identified 6,386 phone numbers and 79 WhatsApp groups who allegedly manage the stone-pelting incidents.
Importantly, the NIA is probing the terror funding case against Kashmiri separatists and has arrested many separatist leaders and workers in this regard.
Related:
Kashmiri Journalists term arrest of photojournalist Kamran Yusuf by NIA as harassment