Pakistan has criticized India for refusing to let five international journalists visit Azad Kashmir to cover a session of the Azad Kashmir Assembly.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Indian government’s move showed how the country’s current “dictatorial regime” was limiting the space for independent media.
The denial of permission by India to 5 international journalists to travel to Pakistan, in which a visit to the Azad Kashmir Assembly was scheduled, is another damning indication of shrinking space for free speech and independent journalism under a dictatorial regime.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) August 4, 2021
“The denial of permission by India to 5 international journalists to travel to Pakistan, in which a visit to the Azad Kashmir Assembly was scheduled, is another damning indication of shrinking space for free speech and independent journalism under a dictatorial regime,” he tweeted.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Minister of Information, also criticized New Delhi for denying foreign media access to Azad Kashmir.
India has refused to allow five foreign journalists permission to visit Pak, they were supposed to attend 5th August session of Azad Kashmir Assembly, so much of #FreedomofExpression we want India to allow independent Journalists to visit IOK and let them report facts
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 4, 2021
The minister asked India to allow journalists to report on the disputed area in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“India has refused to allow five foreign journalists permission to visit Pak, they were supposed to attend 5th August session of Azad Kashmir Assembly, so much of #FreedomofExpression we want India to allow independent Journalists to visit IOK and let them report facts,” he tweeted.
Asad Umar, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives stated that although Pakistan had nothing to hide from the world in Azad Kashmir, India had.
“The difference is simple @fawadchaudhry. We want the world to see what is happening in Azad Kashmir and they want to hide what is happening in Indian-occupied Kashmir. The difference between right and wrong cannot get more stark than this,” he wrote.
The difference is simple @fawadchaudhry. We want the world to see what is happening in azad kashmir and they want to hide what is happening in indian occupied kashmir. The difference between right and wrong cannot get more stark than this. https://t.co/iJP0XvE4d7
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 4, 2021
Shireen Mazari, the Federal Minister for Human Rights, questioned whether international journalists will reveal the Modi regime’s effort to silence independent media.
“Why did we expect otherwise from the fascist Modi regime? The question is whether these foreign journos will now report on this refusal and expose the growing myth of Indian democracy under fascist Modi?” she asked.
