The Editors Guild of India has called out the Jammu and Kashmir police for issuing summonses to journalists in the Valley, adding to the mounting criticism of what is being seen as coercive measures against media freedom.
“Arbitrary summons and police questioning of journalists, and bids to obtain affidavits under duress, are tantamount to coercion and intimidation of the media in pursuit of its legitimate duties,” the guild said in a statement on Wednesday.
“This is just the latest instance of increasingly threatening, intimidatory and coercive actions taken against professional journalists by the Kashmir police. Innumerable instances of journalists being summoned and questioned by the police have been reported in the past.”
The Hindustan Times reported that one of its reporters Ashiq Hussain had received oral summons to appear at the Cyber police station in Srinagar.
The newspaper has asked for the summons to be issued in writing. When the reporter asked about the reasons behind the summons, he was allegedly told: “You will be told the reason when you appear.”
Similarly, The Indian Express recounted assistant editor Basharat Masood’s four-day ordeal after the Kashmir cops allegedly pressured him unsuccessfully to sign a bond.
One social media user commented on the Express link: “Kashmir police dragged senior reporter Bashaarat Masood to a cyber police station,detained him for four days and 15 hours and hauled him before a magistrate to sign a loyalty bond for writing about a mosque survey. He refused. This is naked intimidation of the press under a regime terrified of facts.”
The Editors Guild said in its statement that several journalists including many affiliated with national media had been repeatedly summoned to Srinagar’s Cyber Crime police station, where they were allegedly questioned about routine news reports.
“… the journalists were also pressured to sign bonds or affidavits to the effect that they will not undertake any activity to “disturb the peace”, whatever that may mean or imply. While the police authorities are yet to clarify the reasons for such an action, the Guild reiterates that there can be no space for such arbitrary actions in a democracy, of which media is a key pillar,” the statement read.
“The Guild calls on the police and other authorities to desist from such action, which restrict free speech and prevent the media from carrying out its core functions. The Guild urges the authorities to act in a transparent manner and follow legal due process in their dealings with the media,” the statement said.
Journalists and news organisations in the Kashmir Valley have repeatedly come under attack from law enforcement agencies.
The Jammu office of Kashmir Times was raided by the State Investigation Agency, the intelligence wing of the state police, in November last year.
The SIA had claimed to have recovered a revolver, 14 empty cases of AK rounds, four fired bullets, three grenade safety levers and three suspected pistol rounds.
The SIA had said the searches were linked to an FIR registered against Kashmir’s oldest surviving English-language news organisation which now exists in the digital space.
In the World Press Freedom Index 2025, India ranked 151 among 180 countries, its poor showing attributed to political interference, economic pressures and media control.