Pakistan: Journalists rally against Kashmir communications shutdown

Pakistani journalists have staged a series of protests to demand an end to the persecution of local media in Jammu and Kashmir.

A security personnel stands guard on a street in Srinagar on August 28, 2019. The Himalayan valley is under a strict lockdown -- with movement restricted and phone and internet services cut since August 5 -- imposed hours before India's decision to bring Kashmir under its direct rule. credit: Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

The rallies – organized by IFJ affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) - condemned the Modi government in India for the communications blackout which has been imposed in the region since early August.

Up to 500 journalists from cities across the country staged a number of rallies starting on August 23, including at the Lahore Press Club and outside Parliament House in Islamabad in conjunction with the Rawalpindi & Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ).

Speakers condemned the impact of the communications blackout on journalists’ ability to do their work and on media’s ability to publish or broadcast and thanked the IFJ for highlighting concerns over the persecution of local journalists and disinformation.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “The IFJ continues to call for the ending of the communications shutdown and for the right of all journalists to work free from threat and harassment”.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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