In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities on Monday cancelled the registration of the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) and handed over the building to the Estates Department.
A spokesman of the authorities cited the self-created unpleasant developments among various groups of journalists and said it has been decided that the allotment of the premises at Polo View of the now deregistered KPC be cancelled and control of land and buildings, which belongs to the Estates Department, be reverted back to it”.
He said that the KPC, as a registered body, had ceased to exist and its managing body too had come to a legal closure on 14 July 2021, the date on which its tenure came to an end. The authorities move comes as the erstwhile elected body of the KPC announced fresh elections on February 15.
Shuja-ul-Haq, ex-president of the KPC, had ear-lier said that the elections were delayed last year after a notice asking the club to re-register under the new laws.
The club was issued fresh registration on De-cember 29, 2021 only to be put in abeyance by the Registrar of Societies on January 14, citing the Sen-ior Superintendent of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, report that put the mandatory verifica-tion process of the elected-members on hold.
It was followed by the dramatic takeover of the KPC management by a group of journalists on January 15, who said their move was necessitated because the club was “not functioning properly”.
The KPC and other associations, however, al-leged that the armed police were backing the group of journalists and no due course was taken during the takeover.
The takeover was widely criticised by the Press organisations, including the Press Club of India, the Editors Guild of India and the Mumbai Press Club.Jammu and Kashmir leaders, including Na-tional Conference’s Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti, also criticised, what they called, the “state sponsored coup”.—KMS
