On 27 July 1997, Habib-ullah Naqash, photojournalist for The Asian Age in Srinagar, was beaten by two policemen when stopped at a highway check point en route to cover the visit of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral to the region. Similarly, on 8 August, Mukhtar Ahmed, a reporter for the Indian daily "The Telegraph" and a correspondent for Cable News Network (CNN), and photojournalist Arshad Ahmed were beaten by a policeman when they were stopped en route to cover the Indian army's press conference at Badami Bagh in Srinagar.
These incidents followed the brutal beating of Surinder Oberoi, a journalist for Agence France-Presse in Kashmir on 27 June by Indian security forces and the subsequent tear-gassing of scores of journalists who staged a protest against the assault (see IFEX alert of 3 July 1997).
Recently, a fourth attack occurred when the Indian army raided the residence of Ahmed Ali Fayaz, bureau chief of the "Excelsior" newspaper in Budgam about 30 kilometres from Srinagar.
