Kashmir newspaper wins praise for campaign in which it gave away free face masks

“With this, not only you, but those around you can be protected from coronavirus,” it read.

Please wear a mask, protects you and your loved ones. #maskupkashmir #DailyRoshni https://t.co/MdGWsBVbH5

— jehad (@jehads) July 21, 2020

Zahoor Ahmad Shora, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Roshni, said they realised many were still not taking wearing masks seriously and many had been seen out in the streets without masks on. He told Free Press Kashmir that they had to hire more people to pack the masks and get the edition ready.

The initiative was praised by many on social media who pointed out that the paper is priced at just Rs 2, which is lower than the cost of the mask. People praised the gesture to raise awareness about masks.

This is a local newspaper “Roshni” from Kashmir

They have taken “social responsibility” to next level.
Not only have they encouraged their readers to use a mask but also attached a mask for them in the paper!
Superb effort Roshni! 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/dzfkCXVGK7

— Parminder Singh Brar (@PSBrarOfficial) July 22, 2020

Complimentary mask for readers.

That’s Kashmir Journalism, wear mask and stay safe.👌 pic.twitter.com/zWMvpnb9mF

— Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) July 21, 2020

Such a great initiative by our Urdu newspaper Roshni to affix a mask on the front page of the paper. It drives home the message about mask usage & also takes away the excuse about a mask not being readily available. Well done to who ever came up with this idea. #COVID19 #COVID pic.twitter.com/M9p2WoTsic

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 21, 2020

True to its name, Srinagar-based Urdu Daily, Roshni (light), has made a good contribution in enlightening people about the significance of facemask in the ongoing #COVID19 epidemic with its creative idea of featuring facemask (and only facemask) on front page. Kudos! pic.twitter.com/PwxCNi9ixn

— @AtharParvaiz (@AtharParvaiz) July 22, 2020

Impressive! Mask with newspaper “Daily Roshni”.#wearmask #savelife pic.twitter.com/6QzkMlbMe5

— Imran nissar (@Imrannissar2) July 21, 2020

This is incredible initiative by daily ROSHNI. Other leading news paper should fallow the same. https://t.co/3Rzz1h0Tmp

— feeling’s @heart (@chatontweeter) July 21, 2020

This is good

Masks are the most important & essential tool to stop the relentless transmission of the highly infectious Corona Virus

— Samarth⚡Wear Mask⚡ (@Samarthx9x5) July 21, 2020

Wow, what a great idea ! Let all the newspapers in the country follow it for a day , fully or partially as per their budget. Respective Govt can sponsor this and can take credit

— Subhash Aggarwal (@subhash6180) July 21, 2020

What an amazing idea! It’s like how for Raksha Bandhan in our family, we are sending each other face masks alongside the Rakhis!

— Madhav Kejriwal (@_MadhavKejriwal) July 21, 2020

This is such a brilliant idea, worth emulating by other media outlets! This is one of the best ways they can display their role in fighting the #CoronaPandemic! #facemasks https://t.co/juQoWu0U24

— Ananth Rupanagudi (@rananth) July 22, 2020

Indeed an innovative idea & implementation. Kudos👌

— Chandan Jha (@advocjha) July 22, 2020

#Roshni, a local #Urdu daily in #JammuKashmir‘s #Srinagar, gave its readers a free face mask. As a surprise, the mask was pasted on the front page of the newspaper, with subtext saying, ‘Using masks is important’.

This is winning my heart ❤#coronavirus #India 🇮🇳 #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/9yQTvrAOeb

— Ajay_Vaseegaran (@AjayVaseegaran) July 22, 2020

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Following a sharp spike in July, Jammu and Kashmir have 6,100 active cases, over 4,900 of them in the Valley. On Monday, the Union Territory saw its highest single-day spike of 751 cases, which also led to the cancelling of Amarnath Yatra this year.