Media in Kashmir has for the first time come in for sharp criticism from the members of it’s own fraternity and very rightly so. The parading of a fake doctor in full public glare by anchor of a U-tube channel in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district early this week has put a question mark on the conduct of journalists and as well as law enforcers. While a journalist’s job is to put in public domain the unlawful activity of any citizen, the law enforcers have to ensure that even the journalist don’t evade action for tending to become bosses unto themselves. It is the prime duty of law enforcers to ensure that law takes it’s own course against the offenders irrespective of their professional affiliations. Unfortunately the professional ethics has lost it’s pristine glory in Kashmir as people of all professions tend to flout rules to become bosses unto themselves and onus for allowing professionals to violate rules of law at their own whims and wishes lies on the law enforcers. Unfortunately the law enforcers not only allow the wrong doers to go scot free but also restrain professionals of high integrity from carrying out their profession duties with due respect and regard to public aspirations. So ultimately it becomes an issue of personal ambitions v/s public aspirations. While the law enforcers restrain media from publishing factually correct news reports just to appease their superiors in the civilian and police administration, the media men too tend to hide the facts either for the fear of action from the law enforces or for the purposes of appeasing the top functionaries of the government and ultimately it becomes an issue of personal ambitions V/S public aspirations. A senior editor of a local newspaper known for her professional integrity has in a news portal of great repute spoken about the alleged silence of top Kashmir media houses only for the fear of action from the government since August 5 last year. The observations of the senior editor are no doubt factually correct as most of the newspapers based in Kashmir valley even suspended the routine practice of writing editorials on the opinion pages immediately after the imposition of security clampdown from August 5,2019 onwards and the practice continued for months together.
Whether it comes to the issue of reporting about the parading of a fake doctor by a U-tube channel anchor in full public glare or an alleged silence over the intimidation of journalists and the detention of political leaders, the issue revolves around the institutional integrity of Kashmir media which has went into disrepute. Ultimately the conscience keepers will have to come on the forefront and conscience sellers will have to go for ever and this is must for the institutional integrity of Kashmir media.
Similarly the newspapers in Kashmir did not bother to even publish the statements of the mainstream parties against the detention of their senior leaders. Whether it comes to the issue of reporting about the parading of a fake doctor by a U-tube channel anchor in full public glare or an alleged silence over the intimidation of journalists and the detention of political leaders, the issue revolves around the institutional integrity of Kashmir media which has went into disrepute. Ultimately the conscience keepers will have to come on the forefront and conscience sellers will have to go for ever and this is must for the institutional integrity of Kashmir media.
