The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked news magazine The Caravan to take down its story on the torture of civilians by the Indian Army in the heavily militarised Jammu and Kashmir within 24 hours under section 69 A (Power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource) of the Information Technology Act. The Ministry has demanded that the magazine remove the story titled ‘Screams from the Army Post’ by Jatinder Kaur Tur which was published both in text and video format. Both these contents were to be removed within 24 hours as per the orders, according to The Caravan. The Ministry has said that if The Caravan does not remove the story, then the Government of India will block the URL of the story.
‘Screams from the Army Post’ delved into the deaths of three civilians who were taken in for questioning by the Rashtriya Rifles regiment of the Indian Army following an ambush by terrorists in the Poonch-Rajouri area in Jammu and Kashmir in which four jawans were killed.
The story described in detail the torture inflicted by the army, including electrocution, even on people who were working as its informers. The journalist had spoken to the families of Safeer, Shabeer, and Shaukat, the three men the army murdered in Topa Peer on December 22. The story had also looked at how the army had allegedly given cash bribes to the families of the victims.
Editors of The Caravan magazine were summoned by the Ministry on February 12 and told that the story was a threat to national security and had to be removed within 24 hours. The magazine will comply with the order and challenge it in court. Non-compliance will give the Ministry an excuse to take down the entire website.
Making the official announcement regarding the censorship, The Caravan shared on social media platform X, “This is to inform readers we have received an order from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under Section 69A of the IT Act, directing us to take down this video in 24 hrs.”
They said that the order was “confidential” and that they will be challenging it.