Media Facing State Repression for Publishing Ground Situation in IIOJK: APHC
ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Sep, 2026) The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has stated that independent journalism is facing severe state repression in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) for exposing ground realities.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in Srinagar said the BJP regime is employing various intimidating tactics to harass journalists in the territory, transforming it into an “information black hole".
Since August 2019, when the BJP government illegally and forcibly revoked the special status of the occupied territory, local press has operated under strict control, fear, and threats, while APHC statements have also been prohibited from being published in daily newspapers.
The authorities summon reporters to police stations, interrogate them, and force them to sign pledges promising not to report on human rights issues or publish news critical of the authorities.
APHC claims that reporting factual accounts of military actions or human rights violations is now considered a crime in the territory. They further state that police agencies have gathered personal data, mobile device details, and religious and family backgrounds of locals and reporters. Authorities have also seized journalists’ passports to prevent them from traveling or sharing ground realities with international media.
The APHC asserts that the BJP regime is violating basic principles of press freedom as journalists are threatened and abused on social media by the Hindutva brigade for exposing the Modi government’s failures.
Local media outlets heavily depend on government advertisements, while authorities withhold such advertisements to pressure newspapers to alter their editorial tone on Kashmir and public sentiment, according to APHC.
The APHC also notes that journalists have been charged under draconian laws, including the Public Safety Act (PSA) and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), for telling the truth in IIOJK.
The APHC strongly condemned the prolonged detention of Kashmiri political prisoners, including its leadership, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, and Aasiya Andrabi.