Ten journalists, mostly of them photojournalists, were injured on Sunday when police and paramilitary personnel beat them up while they were covering anti-election demonstrations during the fourth phase of the Assembly polls in North Kashmir's Sopore constituency.
The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where from one of the seriously injured—Mukhtar Khan of AP—was shifted to a hospital where he has been kept under observation by the doctors.
Eyewitnesses told Greater Kashmir that the police and CRPF men beat up the journalists while they were covering an anti-election protest and subsequent lathicharge and teargas shelling at Arampora village of Sopore. [Link]
“The police and the CRPF went berserk and charged into the protesting crowd and all I could see was raining lathis,†said Greater Kashmir’s chief photographer, Habib Naqash. “We ran for our lives and took shelter in a nearby house for an hour.†He said that without any regard to their profession, the police and the CRPF beat them mercilessly. “They beat us like dogs hitting everyone who came in their way.â€
Associated Press photographer, Mukhtar Khan, received severe head injuries and had to be referred to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, before being admitted to the sub-district hospital Sopur. “He has been advised a CT scan,†said his brother, Shafi.
Unfolding the events, assistant editor of Economic Times, Masood Hussain said. “All of a sudden the police and the CRPF changed their priority. After chasing a protestor, they started attacking the media persons, left, right and centre.â€He said it was tragic that the policemen beat the media at the behest of their seniors. “Aap Media Waloon Ko Maro, Laug Khud Bag Jayengay. In Saloun Akhbarwaloun Kou
Dikhaoaw. Sab Say Pehlay In Kou Pakdou (Beat those media guys first, people will flee on their own. Teach these scribes a lesson, catch hold of them first),†Masood quoted CRPF B S Tuti as commanding his Force.He said the troopers also broke the precious equipment the scribes were carrying along. “The damaged equipment included digital cameras and tape recorders,†he said. “Some of the equipment was also stolen by the cops.â€
Others injured in the incident included Tauseef Ahmad of Agence France-Presse (AFP), Masood Hussain of Economic Times, Fayaz Kabuli of Reuters, freelance journalist Yawar, Asia News Internaitonal (ANI) reporter Afzal, Syed Muzaffar of Srinagar Times and Bilal Bazaz of Jammu-based Urdu daily Imaarat.
Srinagar's Etalaat reported: [Link]
According to reports and eyewitnesses, hundreds of people mainly youth took to streets in Arampora village in this apple town and staged anti-elections, pro-freedom demonstrations. The troops and police that were deployed in strength resorted to cane charge and fired numerous teargas canisters to disperse the protesters. The journalists who were covering the event were severely thrashed by the troops and the policemen with bamboo stocks and rifle butts.
"Beat these media men, the people will then run away,†an injured photojournalist quoted a security official BS Tuti saying to his men.
“We were covering the protests in the area, when the troops and policemen pounced on us and thrashed severely. Had we not taken refuge in the nearby houses the troops may have caused harm to our lives,†he added
