PDP decries ban on JK news channels

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decried the continuous ban on local news channels in Jammu and Kashmir at the state’s Legislative Assembly on Monday.

PDP senior leader and MLA from Lolab, Kupwara, Abdul Haq Khan demanded restoration of closed local news and cable channels in Kashmir.

He said that it is totally undemocratic to muzzle the media.

“It is unfortunate that the media in Kashmir is being suppressed while as there is no ban on local cable channels in Jammu,” Haq said in Assembly.

He said that local channels are the source of information and we can?t curb them like this.

While talking to IBNS, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said that the government will soon respond on the issue.

“I was not present in the Assembly. I will soon respond on behalf of the government,” Sagar said.

Around three dozen news channels operating in Kashmir have more or less been wound up due to a government ban since Eid-ul-Fitr.

The government had alleged channel operators were fomenting trouble by showing violent scenes resulting in clashes between youths and police on large scale.

With the authorities firm on not revoking the ban, hundreds of professionals, ranging from cameramen, reporters, and technical and editorial staff, have become jobless.

Channel owners maintain that they had been operating in full compliance with rules and regulations, but the government had banned their transmissions while allowing such networks in Jammu to continue.