‘Surprised, Not Shocked’: Editor Anuradha Bhasin on Kashmir Times Raids & Press Freedom

 Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday raided the Jammu office of the Kashmir Times, alleging that the newspaper had been involved in activities “inimical to the interests of the country” and in “glorification” of such actions. Speaking to Outlook, Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of the Kashmir Times, said the raid was less shocking than it was bewildering.

“I am ‘surprised, not shocked’. The office they searched has been a shut space for years now. I don’t even know what they were looking for in that space,” Bhasin said.

“Even the newspaper has long been out of print. We have only a sparse online presence. The Jammu office has been practically non-operational. I don’t even live in Jammu and Kashmir anymore. This is baffling. ‘But this is Kashmir’.”

According to an official of the State Investigation Agency a case has been registered against the newspaper for “glorification of activities inimical to the interests of the country”.

Founded in 1955 by her father, the veteran journalist and political activist Ved Bhasin, Kashmir Times is one of the oldest English newspapers in the region. He helmed the publication for over 60 years, and is regarded as one of Jammu Kashmir’s most influential voices.

The newspaper has, however, come under pressure for more than a decade. Government advertisements which were stopped in 2010 have not been restored since. In 2020, the Srinagar office of the Kashmir Times, located in the Press Enclave that houses most media outlets, was sealed by authorities.

About Thursday’s raids, Bhasin said she had no prior information about them. “To ask if I was informed is hilarious had it not been serious, had it not been about Kashmir,” she remarked. “I got to know about this recent episode from some media friends. We don’t even have any staffer there anymore as there is no work to be done. There is just one office manager who comes voluntarily, sometimes once a week to clean.”

Despite the situation, she said fear is no longer an emotion that will stop her from doing her job. “Governments across time have found different ways to muzzle freedom of speech and media. But these actions don’t scare us anymore as will continue to do our work.”

Bhasin emphasised that the Kashmir Times legacy is not embedded in its buildings but in its history and its journalism. “This legacy isn’t bound to a building. It lives on in people and through the work we have done over generations.”

She has often spoken about the wider implications of shrinking media freedoms, not just in Kashmir, but globally. “Journalism, or even democracy, if it is impacted in one part of the world, it is going to affect the other parts of the world,” she said. “Unfortunately, world leaders learn from each other, and sometimes learn for the worse, not for the better.”

Her concerns echo broader trends as India ranks 151st in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a placement that remains alarming, even as its overall score has risen only marginally.

Bhasin’s 2022 book, A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370, was among the dozens of books banned by the government for allegedly propagating “false narrative and secessionism” in the Union Territory, earlier this year. “In a democracy, you have faith in your government. You may criticise it. You may attack it. But you believe they would be responsive to dialogue,” she said.

As the investigation proceeds, she questions: Why raid a shuttered office of a defunct print publication years after its closure? What exactly were investigators searching for? And what does this signal for the future of journalism in a region where newsrooms have long operated under pressure? For now, Bhasin’s response captures both the fatigue and resilience of Kashmir’s media community: “We will continue to do our work,” she concludes.