Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian authorities have booked a journalist over a WhatsApp status showing 20 children who died in boat capsize incident in 2006 at Wular Lake in Sopore as “martyrs”.
The police authorities booked the Bandipora Correspondent of news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Sajid Raina after he received a call from police station Bandipora that an FIR has been lodged against him for keeping the WhatsApp status that showed 20 children who died in Wular lake boat capsize incident on May 30, 2006 as “martyrs”.
“I was shocked to hear that an FIR has been lodged for keeping a simple WhatsApp status about 20 children who died on May 30, 2006 when their boat capsized in Wular Lake. This is really shocking. I don’t know what was wrong with my WhatsApp status,” he said.
The Kashmir News Observer urged to the Kashmir Press Club, Editors Guild and other media organisations to take note of the issue, as the journalists in the peripheral areas are being harassed day in and day out on one pretext or the other.
Earlier, a few days back, KNO’s copy editor was also called to police station Bandipora for a Tweet about shifting of Oxygen Plant and non-functioning of ventilators at the District Hospital Bandipora.
The editor was made to sit in the police station for hours together and was questioned, over a simple Tweet.—KMS
