The Government has lost the difference between terrorism and journalism. They define the two terms in the same way , but both Terrorism and journalism are entirely different entities but this Government defines everything the way they want to. The way they have done with activism during Shaheen Bagh, CAA and NRC protests.
The derogatory UAPA that's to prevent the unlawful activities is being slapped on the journalists, who report what the government doesn't want to. There's a saying "Journalism is publishing what others doesn't want to be published, everything else is public relations". So all Government wants them to do is public relations not journalism.
In democracy Media is considered as the important part of right to free speech and expression. Media is voice to voiceless but what voice it can give to voiceless when it's itself mercilessly silenced. The UAPA is the biggest weapon that the government is using to silence the free press that reports what they don't want to be reported.
The raids on the people related to Newslick took the free press by storm. The systemic abuses of power against the press is something that the government is being doing the day the have taken to office. The Editor in chief of Newsclick is now under arrest under the various sections of UAPA along with his head of the HR department. In response activists and journalists gathered and protested against the arrests and the raids.
Well if we talk about Kashmir this has become a normal each day for free press in Kashmir is challenging. Many of the Kashmir based journalists have their passports suspended which means that they can't fly. The present regime is in full war against the free press. They want nothing to be reported. Just the thing that favors them.
This is not the first time that this Government is raiding the free press or arresting their staff . The Shaheen bagh and the COVID break out saw the similar thing. The government didn't even wanted to deaths to be reported. They just wanted the fake news and castle in the air to be reported. We have seen what the government did to media during the abrogated of Article 370! The horror still haunts the people.
Calling the people foreign sponsored is nothing new to hear. We have been hearing Pakistan sponsored for long but now these days people have become US and China sponsored also. As the case of Newsclick the police claims that they used to get funds from China. Well even if they got the funds from China, nothing wrong in receiving the foreign funds until and unless it's through the proper channel. The problem lies not with the funds but with the truth that Newsclick reports.
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*Student of law
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