J&K Police have summoned for questioning two journalists for publishing and circulating a statement of the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) which called for a shutdown in the Valley on February 9 and 11. Naseer Ahmad Ganie, who works for the Outlook magazine and Haroon Nabi, who works for local news gathering agency CNS, were called for questioning on Saturday. While Naseer’s organisation had published the statement, Nabi said that he posted about the strike call on a CNS WhatsApp group. JKLF had sent a statement to media houses in the Valley. While February 9 marks the anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, February 11 is the anniversary of the hanging of JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat. Nabi said he was asked by the police about the source of the message. “I had copied the same (details about the strike) after it was posted by a journalist. They asked me about the source and from where I got it,” he said. A group of senior journalists, including representatives of the Kashmir Press Club, met Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar over the issue on Saturday evening. KPC said such “summoning of journalists” has become routine. “It is definitely harassment. On and off, journalists have been summoned by the police for their stories,” said KPC general secretary Ishfaq Tantry. “There was no harassment but a journalist was called for questioning. I cannot talk over the phone. If you have interest, you can come to meet me in my office,” IGP Kumar said before disconnecting the call. In a statement on Saturday, J&K Police said that they have registered a case against JKLF for “attempts to incite violence and disturb law and order situation in the Valley.”
