An Indian court on Monday gave a Kashmiri free-lance journalist two days to appear before it over a police complaint that he had acted against the public interest by sharing information on social media about a militant attack on a policeman.
The complaint against Gowhar Nazir Geelani comes days after the editor of web portal Kashmir Walla, Fahad Shah, was arrested for uploading on social media “anti-national content to provoke the public to disturb law and order”.
“I have granted him two days for appearance be-fore the court,” magistrate Fida Mohammad Bhat said.
A summons issued to Geelani said that on Feb 1, following the wounding of the policeman by mili-tants, the journalist “disseminated information on social media that would have endangered the life of the injured individual and other persons”. Geelani is also accused of sharing information that raised “se-rious security and breach-of-peace concerns”.
“I have strong apprehensions you will continue with such activities that will have an impact upon maintainability of peace and public tranquillity in my jurisdiction,” the summons read.—KMS
