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| `Suspending publication will only help Govt' | | Fourth Estate fumes | |
Early Times report
Jammu, July 10: The government must have had a sigh of relief today following decision by the valley newspapers to suspend their publications indefinitely to protest `persecution' of journalists during the past one week. The decision was taken during a dharna staged by working journalists, newspaper owners and photo journalists at the Press Enclave in the summer capital.
The people, by and large, have taken the decision with a pinch of salt. A prominent lawyer preferring anonymity said the decision would only help the government. "It would add to confusion and the high handedness of the state and its agencies would go un-noticed", he said. The commoner on the road is equally critical of the decision. "This is what the government wanted. The news men barring a few exceptions have always failed the people at crucial junctures. Suspending publication like this makes no sense", Rizwan, a university student told Early Times.
The concern of the lawyer and the student is not totally unfounded. The government ensured that the newspaper do not hit the stands during the past four days. Contrary to precedents, no curfew passes were issued to the journalists this time.
They were not allowed to move out of the Press Enclave. And those who managed to reach the people were ruthlessly beaten by the police and the CRPF deployed in large numbers across Kashmir. Who, therefore, is to benefit by the decision of the scribes?
And, if the government does not want the fourth estate to function, it tells the story of the success and credibility of Kashmiri journalists. But by suspending their publications indefinitely, they have sent wrong signals to their defiant and mature readers.
Normally journalists do not protest by suspending their publications. It is like a soldier who does not use his gun in the battlefield. There are other known and effective methods of registering protest. Boycotting official functions and leaving the editorial space blank are some of the means that have worked in Kashmir and elsewhere in the world.
The separatists too seem worried. However, a defiant Aasiya said the people would come to know about "our programmes." Aasiya who heads the Dukhtaran-e-Millat issued a `calendar' for the coming week, this evening telling the people what to do, when and how.
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