'Let Us Admit That We Failed To Stand Up For Kamran Yousuf', Says Kashmir's Journalistic Fraternity

With various international and national journalistic bodies expressing outrage over the arrest of Kashmiri photo-journalist, Kamran Yousuf, by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), Kashmir based journalist associations have called for his immediate release.

The Kashmir Working Journalists Association (KWJA) in a statement issued here condemned the continuous incarceration of Kamran. The Association Secretary Samaan Lateef said Yousuf is being victimized only for carrying out his professional duties that somehow embarrassed the government. The 23-year-old photojournalist has been held in detention for the past 170 days. 

“KWJA believes that Kamran’s arrest and framing is aimed only to muzzle the press in Kashmir, and that all charges against him are baseless and motivated”, the statement reads.

“At the same time, KWJA is also aghast at the efforts of NIA to define the working of a journalist. The pathetic standards of journalism that NIA aims to thrust are not just childishly naive but also reflect a dangerous conspiracy to dis-empower the fourth estate,” the statement reads.

Last week the NIA submitted chargesheet in court arguing that Yousuf was not a "real journalist by profession" because he had not received formal training or covered "developmental activity" in the region. In the chargesheet, the NIA spelled out the “moral duty of a journalist” saying, “had he been a real journalist/stringer by profession, he may have performed one of the moral duty of a journalist which is to cover the activities and happening (good or bad) in his jurisdiction.”  “He had never covered any developmental activity of any Government Department/Agency, any inauguration of Hospital, School Building, Road, Bridge, statement of a political party in power or any other social/developmental activity by the state government or Govt of India”, the NIA chargesheet reads.

The NIA’s definition of a journalist has evoked sharp criticism internationally.

"India's National Investigative Agency is way out of its league and has no business defining what 'a real journalist' should cover," said Steven Butler, Committee to Protect Journalists Asia program coordinator. "Kamran Yousuf's work taking photographs of conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is a public service in the best spirit of journalism. He should be freed immediately."

The KWJA also said, “We strongly contest NIA's definition of journalism and affirm that it is not the job of a journalist to cover bridge inaugurations or birthday parties of government and political functionaries, and if NIA does not understand the basics that separate PR from journalism, it puts its own investigating capabilities into question.” NIA, it said, should desist from delivering lectures on journalism. “The KWJA also takes this moment to reflect on the larger tragedy of journalism in Kashmir exposed by the arrest of Kamran Yousuf. More than the government or investigation agencies Kamran, a young journalist, has been failed by the fraternity, all of us together. Let us admit that the journalistic fraternity in Kashmir, including us, has failed to stand up for Kamran Yousuf since his arrest on Sept. 5 last year, leave alone strive for his release”, the statement reads. 

Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) also reacted to the new definition of a journalist that was detailed in the charge sheet of Kamran Yousuf. 

KEG spokesman Shafat Kira said, “if the cops are supposed to define the roles and responsibilities of the journalists, which manage the fourth pillar of democracy, the universities that train thousands of journalists in a year across India must be locked,” the members said. “Re-defining journalism is usually been seen as an effort by totalitarian and dictatorial regimes and not democracies.”

He said KEG reiterated its stand on Kamran Yousuf case that he has been a news photographer who was freelancing with various media outlets. “The editors sought his early release and have continuously insisted that Yousuf requires a fair trial. It has been a long time since Yousuf’s arrest that the investigators have probed almost all angles of his supposed involvement. So far, nothing has been proved as the charge sheet suggests.”

“It is high time that Yousuf is permitted to move out of jail and resume his routine and help his mother, the only relation he has, in surviving honourably,” the editors said. “His release will contribute to the strengthening of democracy and right to free speech.”