From Dispaches JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Press Bill which was adopted by the State Assembly has been strongly criticized by journalists and social and political organization s.

Journalists said they would resist the “black” bill vigorously and force the government to withdraw it.

The Panthers party said in a resolution adopted at an emergency meeting of its Secretariat that the State Government intended to curb the freedom of the Press,

Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh, who presided over the meeting, said the present Government had no right to continue in office “even for a day.”

The Regional Council of Communist Party of India’s Jammu and Kashmir unit also condemned the Bill and said Press censorship would “gag the true voice of poor workers and weaker classes.” SHIMLA: The Himachal Working Journalists Union has strongly condemned the draconian Jammu and Kashmir Press Bill and asked the Chief Minister to withdraw it.

In a statement issued here the President and General Secretary of the union, K.S. Tomar and P.N. Sharma said the “black bill” was a “brazen” attack on the freedom of the Press and would be opposed “tooth and nail”. They urged the Jammu and Kashmir Governor not to give assent to the Bill and also requested for immediate Central Intervention for stalling the implementation of the Bill.

They said the HPWJU would fully support any nationwide agitation against the Bill and asked journalists to oppose the Bill with the same spirit and determination with which it had opposed the Press Bills mooted by the Central and Bihar Governments, NEW DELHI: The AllIndia Small and Medium Newspapers Federation condemned the Press bill passed by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

In a statement the Federation described the Bill as “an attempt on the freedom of the press”. It urged the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to intervene and get the bill dropped.

The Federation said the present laws were sufficient to deal with the erring press and expressed fears that the measure would be misused because of its wide powers.

The Indian Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers (IFSMN) too has urged the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah not to bring the Impugned Press Bill on the statue book and to take steps to immediately withdraw it. In a statement the Federation Working President Mrs Pushpa Pandaya said that “Terrorism is not the offspring of media men that they are being terrorized with the Bill.”

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 8, 1989