Barring journalists from covering Jan 26 function ‘unprecedented state-sponsored attack on press freedom’: EGI

SRINAGAR, (PTK): The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Monday termed the barring of Kashmir journalists from covering the January 26 function in Srinagar as an “unprecedented state-sponsored attack on press freedom”.

In a statement, EGI condemned “the arbitrary manner” in which several senior journalists of Kashmir were denied entry into the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar to cover the main January 26 function.

The EDI has demanded an inquiry into “how such lapses were allowed to take place.”

“It is shocking that many of them were stopped from entering the stadium to perform their professional duty in spite of their possessing entry passes issued by the state government’s Information Department,” the statement said.

The EGI said it was equally deplorable of the state government’s earlier decision to deny entry passes for covering the function on January 26 to many other senior journalists. The EGI also sought an assurance from the government that such reprehensible acts would not be repeated.

“If necessary, a fool-proof and non-discriminatory system of issuing entry passes to journalists to help them perform their professional duty in high-security areas must be introduced at the earliest,” the statement added.