Press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir is at stake again after the government cancelled allotment of the premises to the Kashmir Press Club, the largest membership organisation for mediapersons in the Valley, on Monday, 17 January.
In a dramatic sequence of events on 15 January, a group of Kashmiri journalists, apparently disgruntled over the delay in press club elections, “took over” the club and declared themselves as the “interim body”. Armed personnel of the J&K Police were posted both inside the club premises and outside the gate during the "coup".
In a statement, the faction alleged that the management committee of the club was delaying elections for "unknown reasons”, adding that the committee had placed the media fraternity in "unwanted trouble”.
What caused further alarm was that soon after the Kashmir Press Club was taken over, it was locked by the group, citing the COVID-19 weekend lockdown as the reason.