Asserting that FIRs against journalists and commentators is wrong and must stop in Kashmir, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that it says more about what is happening in the valley than anything they have written.
“No ifs, no buts, no whataboutery – this campaign of FIRs against journalists & commentators in Kashmir IS WRONG & must stop,” Mr Abdullah, who is the National Conference (NC) Vice President, wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
“If your version of events is so weak that you have to charge these people it says more about what is happening in Kashmir than anything they have written,” he added.
Three journalists have been booked during the last 48 hours in Kashmir valley. Police on Tuesday booked a journalist, Gowher Geelani, in Kashmir valley for allegedly indulging in unlawful activities though his posts on social media.
A senior journalist, Peerzada Ashiq, working for ‘The Hindu’, was on Monday booked for allegedly publishing ‘fake news’ regarding an encounter and subsequent development in south Kashmir district of Shopian. Earlier on Monday, a Kashmir-based young woman photojournalist, Masrat Zahar, was booked for uploading alleged ‘anti-national posts with criminal intention to induce the youth and to promote offences against public tranquility’ on Facebook.