Jammu, April 5: Working journalists including photo-journalists and video journalists of Jammu region, in one voice, have taken strong exception to government’s harassment of senior journalist Mohammad Saleem Pandit of The Times of India.
In a meeting, Press Club of Jammu (PCJ) sharing its concern has conveyed its displeasure and anguish to the Jammu and Kashmir government for lodging an FIR against the senior journalist Saleem Pandit who has been discharging his professional duties since 2000 in the Kashmir Valley for the national daily.
Saleem Pandit, Assistant Editor of the newspaper had reported about the attack on the tourists by stone pelters soon after the killing of 13 militants on April 1, 2018. The police, though admitted that two tourists were injured in the stone pelting somewhere in Khanabal in Anantnag.
Ironically, the state government not only harassed the senior journalist by adopting different means, they also registered a case against the scribe in the police station under section 505(2) RPC, a statement issued after the meeting said.
Ashwani Kumar, President, Press Club of Jammu said that there are many other ways to contradict a story but registration of FIR against a journalist reflects government’s mindset to gag voice of media.
