Days after journalists from national publications were summoned by the Jammu and Kashmir police, The Indian Express publicly backed its Srinagar-based reporter Bashaarat Masood, detailing the police action against him in a front-page report.
Headlined “15 hours over 4 days: J&K Police call Express reporter to Srinagar station”, with the strapline “Told to sign bond, reporter does not”, the report outlined how Masood was repeatedly called to the police station and asked to sign a bond stating he would not do anything to “disturb peace” in the union territory.
The paper’s decision to foreground the incident comes amid questions over the silence of national media organisations whose reporters have faced police summons in Kashmir.
Masood, who has been part of the newspaper’s Srinagar bureau since 2006, had recently reported on a controversial police drive to collect information on mosques in the Valley. The police action against him was not linked to any formal FIR but carried out under Section 126 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. This section states if the magistrate is of the opinion there is sufficient ground for proceeding, he may, require such person to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond or bail bond for keeping the peace.
In its report on Wednesday, The Indian Express said Masood told the magistrate he did not know the reason for which he was being asked to sign the bond, following which the police took Masood back to the station. The police “made him wait and did not specify… the reason for calling him to the station and making him sit there for hours.”
Chief editor Raj Kamal Jha was quoted as saying Masood’s work “over the last two decades speaks for itself”, adding that he had not signed the bond. “The Indian Express is committed to doing what is necessary to uphold and protect the rights and dignity of its journalists,” Jha said.
The development follows a statement by the Press Club of Kashmir on Tuesday, flagging what it described as the “intimidation” of journalists from national media organisations. The club said its members were “summoned or advised by the J&K Police to stop covering stories related to the profiling of specific religious institutions in the region”.
In a statement on Tuesday, the club said journalists were told this direction had come from higher authorities. “In one case, a prominent journalist from The Indian Express was compelled to submit an undertaking agreeing not to write such stories in the future, while others received similar instructions after being called to the police station.”
The statement came as J&K police started circulating a form titled “profiling of mosques” earlier this month, triggering alarm over surveillance in the region. The police exercise seeks details such as the physical structure of the mosque, cost of construction, source of funds, monthly expenditure and income. It also sought information about the people associated with the mosques, including their financial status, and bank, passport, ATM and credit card details. A similar form has also been shared with the people running madrasas.
While the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Muttahida Majlis Ulama earlier termed it an “invasive data collection exercise”, National Conference leader and Parliament member Aga Ruhullah Mehdi said the “right-wing ideology which is running the system in this country” wants to control the pulpit.
Earlier this week, senior journalist Nirupama Subramanian posted on X about reporters being asked to sign bonds in Kashmir.
The summoning of journalists was subsequently criticised by several politicians.
CPM MLA Yousuf Tarigami posted, “Summoning reporters and asking them to sign bonds is a fresh attempt to browbeat them into submission. It reflects a wider pattern of intimidation of journalists aimed at silencing independent voices.”
People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone termed it a “new low”. “Why should the police intervene and summon journalists when they are doing a story based on facts.”
J&K PDP tweeted, “If reporters from national newspapers can be summoned, harassed, and pressured over routine reporting, it marks a serious erosion of press freedom. This intimidation must be unequivocally condemned. Kashmiri journalists have faced this for years. The silence on this only emboldens further crackdowns.”
Several journalists in Kashmir earlier told Newslaundry they receive background-verification calls from government offices many times a month, asking them to disclose PAN and Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, salary slips, property records, and even their marital status. Local officials, the story found, have been tasked with compiling personal and financial information of working journalists. This sort of intimidation, the statement noted, "weaken(s) independent journalism and undermine(s) the public's right to information”.
In November last year, the raid on Kashmir Times underscored a broader effort to extinguish independent voices. Since August 2019, dozens of journalists have left the profession, moved out of Kashmir, or withdrawn from reporting altogether.
THis report was originally published by the Newslaundry and can be accessed here.