Several journalists and members of civil society in Indian Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) paid rich tributes to martyred journalist Rayees Ahmad Butt on his first death anniversary.
Indian troops martyred young Kashmiri freelance journalist Rayees Ahmad along with a youth during a cordon and search operation on March 30 last year in the Rainawari area of the Srinagar city.
“Occupied Kashmir is one of the most dangerous places in the world where people associated with the press and media are performing their professional duties in the most difficult circumstances and situations,” said a report released by the Kashmir Media Service on Thursday.
As many as 20 journalists have been confirmed as being killed while performing their duties during the Kashmiris’ ongoing liberation struggle since 1989. Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Mushtaq Ali, Muhammad Shaban Wakeel, a woman scribe Aasiya Jeelani, Ghulam Muhammad Lone, Ghulam Rasool Azad, Pervez Muhammad Sultan, Shujaat Bukhari, Ali Muhammad Mahajan, Syed Ghulam Nabi, Altaf Ahmed Fakhtoo, Saidan Shafi, Tariq Ahmed, Abdul Majid Butt and Javed Ahmed Mir were among the martyred.
The report said the journalists in the occupied territory also faced manhandling, abductions, murder attempts and death threats by the Indian troops and all this has made their everyday work extremely difficult.
It pointed out that the Kashmiri journalists and many other scribes while performing their professional duties in the territory were roughed up, threatened, assaulted, summoned and detained by the Indian police, agencies and troops on fake charges.
Several journalists, including Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah, Irfan Meraj and Sajad Gul had been facing illegal detention under draconian laws and remain lodged in different jails in India and IIOJK.
