Kashmir editors' guild accuses govt of denying ads to yet another daily

Kashmir Editors' Guild Tuesday accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration of banning yet another local daily from receiving state advertisements, taking the number of proscribed publications to three.

KEG regrets that while it was expecting the lifting of the ban on the government business to two major newspapers - The Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader - the government has added Kashmir Uzma to the list," said a statement by the editors' guild.

"The ban, as usual, is unexplained and implemented without conveying the decision to the newspaper, it added.

It said the ban is in the continuation with the onslaught that the Kashmir media has been facing since 1989.

"The onslaught has led to untold miseries to the media and the shaking of the the institution's faith in democracy, the KEG said.

The statement said the KEG in a meeting on Tuesday discussed the fresh ban order and reiterated its stand that the ban is not only strangulating the media, but is also impacting the idea of democracy.

Interestingly, the ban came amid the electoral process that is governed by the Moral Code of Conduct. The Information Department has not conveyed the decision formally, the statement said.

It said the editors are at loss to understand the wisdom behind the undemocratic decision-making, specially at a time when the electioneering is in progress.

The Guild has already approached the Press Council of India and will send yet another communication at the earliest, it said.