SRINAGAR: A day after police beat up journalists who were covering a Muharram procession in Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh on Wednesday directed SSP Srinagar to take immediate action against the erring police officer.
Singh has taken a serious view against the undesirable behaviour with some media persons in Srinagar, read a tweet from the J&K police handle.
The policemen had used force against the media persons while they were covering the 8th Muharram procession of Shia mourners near Fly Over at Jehangir Chowk Srinagar on Tuesday.
A photojournalist, Sajad Hameed, alleged that his camera lens was broken by police while he was performing his professional duties.
Videos of policemen beating up scribes while covering the procession had gone viral on social media and evoked strong condemnation from Kashmir-based media organisations including the Kashmir Press Club and Kashmir Press Photographers Association.
The Kashmir Press Club said cops of Shergari Police Station beat the media men to the pulp without any provocation and demanded that authorities should take action against the concerned policemen.
The Club reiterated that the police authorities need to respect the freedom of the press as enshrined under the Constitution and ensure strict disciplinary action against those guilty.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah condemned the incident and tweeted, “Very unfortunate to see J&K police personnel mercilessly thrashing journalists in Srinagar. These people were simply doing their jobs - reporting the news. They don’t make the news & they don’t engineer events to create the story. I hope @OfficeOfLGJandK will ensure no repeat.”
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also expressed aghast and tweeted: “Media is spending hours debating the human tragedy & unfolding crisis in Afghanistan but will they speak up for their own community in Kashmir who were beaten to pulp today by security forces for doing their job?”
Other mainstream political parties including the Peoples Conference and Apni Party have also condemned the incident.