NEW DELHI: The editors guild of India Thursday expressed, “deep concern over the virtual black out imposed on the media” in the coverage of the recent events in the northern Indian border state of Jammu and Kashmir.
This action of the government “tantamount to censorship of a kind, has inevitably resulted in giving currency to unbridled rumors and affected the credibility even of such authentic information as journalists have been able to piece together,” the guild president, Mr Nikhil Chakravarthy, said here in a statement.
“The panic reaction of the Jammu and Kashmir authorities has done a disservice to the very cause they wish to promote,” he said.
“Rather than a blanket ban at such a delicate and difficult moment, the constructive alternative before the authorities would be to permit newsmen and cameramen, Indian and International to go about their legitimate professional duties and take action against any individuals who may be guilty of ‘obvious dereliction, This is the course that should even now be adopted,” he said.
The guild also expressed its sorrow at the tragic loss of life in J and K while not in “any way condoning any form of anti-national activity on the part of some elements.”
Article extracted from this publication >> February 9, 1990
