Activists blame govt: Denial of permission to show Kashmir video at Press Club

By A Representative
In a statement, four authors of 'Kashmir Caged’ report, Kavita Krishnan, Jean Drèze, Maimoona Abbas Mollah, Vimal Bhai, have said that they stand by the statement that permission to screen this short video report at the Press Club of India (PCI) on 14 August was denied, “reportedly under pressure”. However, they say, their quarrel “is not and was not with the PCI, but with the Government of India that is seeking to censor such spaces.”
Insisting on the need to “unitedly resist such censorship”, the statement also objects to the “misleading and hostile comments made by the Prime Minister, the Government and certain propagandist media outlets, inciting animosity towards Indian citizens who are speaking up against the clampdown on democracy in Kashmir.”
Also seeking to “caution against possible attempts by the Government of Pakistan to fish in the troubled waters by sponsoring cross-border terror and appropriate the Kashmir issue for its own vested interests”, the statement says, "The voices, concerns and sufferings of the Kashmiri people must not be reduced to an India-Pakistan slanging match."
“The people of Jammu & Kashmir must have a voice in matters and decisions that concern their lives and region”, it adds.

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