NL Hafta

This episode of Reporters Without Orders begins with a farewell to Nidhi, our Kashmir correspondent. We are sad to see her go but wish her the best for her future endeavours. Also on the panel, we have Cherry, Amit, Rohin and Sumedha. The discussion kicks off with Jammu and Kashmir's former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's press conference in the aftermath of Bharatiya Janata Party’s withdrawal of support. Nidhi, who was at the press conference, commenting on the nature of the relationship between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP, says, “From day one, it has been a tough marriage. Especially, in the last few months, there have been mounting disagreements between the two parties, especially post-Kathua and the ceasefire, and Shujaat Bukhari’s killing. I spoke to one of the senior members of the PDP, and they basically said that it is not shocking.”  Speaking of her own experiences in the aftermath of Bukhari’s murder, Nidhi says, “...today, I was going to Pulwama to cover another incident and three to four taxi drivers cancelled on me. Locals were unwilling to come with me because they don’t want to be seen with an Indian journalist.” She adds, “Other journalists have also been warned not be seen with a non-local out in the field because now you never know who is watching.” Assuming that the ‘Plot to Kill Prime Minister’ news story would be over, Sumedha watched TV news. She says, “What caught my eye was that there were these promos talking about this big exposé, telling you who the masterminds are. So I thought, I should definitely look for what the exposé has to bring to me.”  She adds, “Unfortunately, even after an hour, I couldn’t find what the exposé was trying to establish. It was a hollow exposé, and a lot of noise for nothing.” Rohin shares the story of a medical student who left a shocking note before committing suicide. The victim was unable to pay high fees and was allegedly subjected to harassment on behalf of the college administration. He says, “The reason is that when the fees were raised, she had approached Jabalpur High Court, after which the college administration started harassing her on a personal level.” He adds, “Because she was a middle-class person and she couldn’t pay that kind of fees, she wrote a letter to her parents saying she didn’t want to trouble them, which is why she committed suicide. This is nowhere to be found in mainstream media.” Amit talks about Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to revoke his dharna. Voicing his opinions on Kejriwal’s supposed obstructionist behaviour, Amit says, “When the IAS officers are saying that there is no strike in Delhi, they are partially correct, because the AAP is saying the IAS officers are on ‘partial’ strike. All these officers are coming to work, they are reporting to the secretariat, but they are Amit asks, “Is there any sentiment amongst the locals that this whole idea of using violence to achieve your ultimate goal that is Azadi is useless...Even the voices like Shujaat Bukhari are being allegedly murdered by these gangs.” Cherry speaks about a report in The Hoot which revealed that the main accused in the murder of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik has allegedly threatened the prime witness in the case. Cherry also speaks about a plethora of hashtags floating around the BJP-PDP break up. She observes, “As soon as the news broke that the BJP was withdrawing its support from the PDP, hashtags like #BJPdumpsPDP or #BJPdisownsPDP were being circulated but #BJPabandonsKashmir was given a miss." Listen up!