Uproar in Kashmir Press Club over forceful 'takeover', details here

A group of journalists entered the Kashmir Press Club and announced an interim body of the press club.

New Delhi: A group of journalists who entered the Kashmir Press Club on Sunday has caused a major uproar. After being there for an hour, the journalists also addressed the media in the vicinity of the press club and announced an interim body of three people including a president, a general secretary and a treasurer of the press club.

"An interim body of press club is constituted to run the day to day affairs," President of this interim body Salim Pandit said.

Subsequently, the new self-made interim body also issued a press release and said, "With the Kashmir Press Club being defunct for the last six months when the tenure of the previously elected body ended, a new interim body was elected on Saturday, January 15, 2022, with veteran journalist M Salim Pandit as the President." 

"The three-member body also includes journalists Zufliqar Majid as the General Secretary and Arshad Rasool as the treasurer of the Club till the elections are held in a free and fair manner," it added.

However, the elected Kashmir Press Club members and journalists said that they have taken over forcibly and the staff was forced to hand over the access of stationery, official email and WhatsApp account to them. 

The elected press club body sought the intervention of the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor. 

Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India and other journalists' organisations have condemned the forceful takeover and said it was part of a continuing trend to smother press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir.