Former minister and the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Choudhary Lal Singh’s recent statement has sent shockwaves across the journalists fraternity in Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Lal Singh made headlines after he had organized a rally in faovour of an accused in rape and murder eight year nomad girl in Jammu’s Kuthwa district, the incident that evoked a global outrage.
The man infamous for creating controversies has now threatened Kashmiri journalists asking them for drawing a line or be ready to meet a fate like Rising Kashmir’s founder editor, Shujaat Bukhari who was mercilessly gunned down by some unknown attackers in Srinagar near his office on June 14. “Kashmiri journalists had created a wrong atmosphere and now I want them to a draw a line on or they will meet the fate of Bukhari”, Lal Singh said while addressing a news conference on Saturday. He added that it was better they (Kashmiri journalists) control themselves before the situation gets worse. This is not the first time Singh has come down to threatening. In 2016, he insulted and threatened a delegation of Gujjar farmers by reminding them of the massacre of Muslims in Jammu region following Partition in 1947 in which tens of thousands of Muslims were martyred by Hindu fanatics.
The BJP legislator’s threat to journalist fraternity is a matter of serious concern that needs to be investigated further to ascertain the facts and motives behind it. While condemning the statement the Kashmiri journalist fraternity too has raised some important questions regarding Lal Singh’s statement. One of the senior journalists working for a English News Daily has asked as how come this man knows the reason behind the killing of Dr. Bukhari when investigation into this matter is still going on. The NC vice president Omar Abdullah had said that the Dr. Bukhari’s death is now a tool for goons to use to threaten other journalists. “Singh’s statement indicates that he has some information about Shujaat’s murder and (this aspect) must be investigated,” the statement said. The Kashmir Editors Guild said it reserves the right to file a police case against Singh. “Singh’s statement indicates that he has some information about Shujaat’s murder and (this aspect) must be investigated,” the KEG statement reads.
It is indeed an outrageous attack on freedom of press and an open threat to Kashmir based journalists who are already facing severe safety issues. Since 1990, 19 journalists have already died while performing their professional duties in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir that happens to be one of the world’s protracted and highly militarized conflict zones. Given the highly volatile situation in the region the statement merits urgent cognizance by international human rights watchdogs and the authorities at the helm of affairs in the region as the right wing leader’s statement has not only vitiated the already fragile atmosphere but had put life of journalists in severe danger. Ironically, the BJP leaders have been in the habit of invoking Hinduvata sentiment besides creating war hysteria with a view to silence the voice of dissent in Jammu and Kashmir. And Lal Singh’s recent statement is yet another attempt to harass and terrorize the journalists who by risking their lives have been reporting the worst kind of human rights violations committed by Indian troops in the region.