Islamabad: As India is observing National Press Day, today, Narendra Modi-led Hindutva government is trampling basic principles of press freedom in the country as well as in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
A report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, said press freedom in India and IIOJK has drastically declined since Modi came to power in 2014.
It said the media is facing immense pressure to toe the Hindutva line in India, adding the Modi regime’s silencing of critical voices is reminiscent of Hindutva Nazism.
The report lamented that journalists in India were increasingly facing intimidation by Hindutva forces for running stories critical of the Modi regime. The journalists are threatened and abused on social media by the Hindutva brigade for exposing the Modi government’s failures, it added.
It said many media organizations in India are owned by BJP & RSS business tycoons who work for Hindutva policies.
The report maintained that the Modi regime has also tightened its grip on media in IIOJK. It said though Kashmiri journalists have always worked under immense pressure, facing intimidation, assaults and arrests on part of Indian authorities yet victimization of journalists in IIOJK has increased manifold since Aug 5, 2019 when India revoked the territory’s special status.
The report said Hindutva government of India can’t hide its crimes by stifling media in India and IIOJK, adding assault on free press in Modi-ruled India is a wakeup call for the global media organizations.
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