Kashmiri Journalist Shahid Tantray Releases Statement On ‘Constant’ Harassment. Police Say Inquiry After Complaint Filed.

Journalist Shahid Tantray, who works for The Caravan magazine, has alleged that the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been harassing him and his family members for his reportage. 

In a statement published on The Caravan’s Twitter handle on Wednesday, Tantray said that the police started harassing him when he was reporting on the crackdown of journalists after August 5, 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir lost statehood and autonomy under Article 370. His report on the media crackdown, entitled “Dead Lines”, was published in The Caravan on February 1.

He sent a letter to the international and Indian press bodies and organizations seeking their help.

“The officers said I had three options in front of me. They said my first option was that I could stay in Kashmir if I gave them a written agreement that I would not write anything that goes against the government. The second option was that I could stay in Kashmir and continue writing pieces that displeased the government, in which case, they said, I would either be shot or sent to jail. They said the third option was that I leave Kashmir immediately, ” Shahid has said in his statements.

Tantray also said he had been harassed for his reporting of the role of the Indian Army in Kashmir. The article, entitled “False Flags”, was published in The Caravan on June 1. As the magazine tweeted out the statement, it urged the Press Council of India, the Editors Guild of India, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders to take note of the situation.

The Srinagar police have refuted the allegations.

In a press release issued on Wednesday evening, they said “many prominent personalities of Srinagar” had lodged a complaint against Tantray after his “mischievous article ‘false flags’”, was published. They alleged that Tantray did not cooperate with the police inquiry on the matter.

“Many prominent personalities of Srinagar have lodged complaint against one reporter of Caravan namely Shahid Tantray and his mischievous article ‘false flags’,” Police said in a statement, adding, ” They have displayed apprehension that it is akin to giving targets to militant groups, something which has been done by similar articles in Kashmir fight blog etc”.

In past many personalities like journalist Shujaat Bukhari have been targeted in similar fashion when the names started coming in such “cryptic articles, police said further.

“On the basis of this complaint, an inquiry has started into the real reasons why these personalities were specifically named in this article”, Police had said. Police said that Shahid Tantray has so far not cooperated in the said inquiry. Names of prominent personalities has been kept secret “so as not to expose them to any further threat/danger”.