Srinagar: CNI: Executive body of the JK Media Guild met here today under the chairmanship of its president, Mir Ajaz Ahmad and congratulated Mr. Omer Abdullah for taking oath as the first Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The president also praised the Union government and UT administration for conducting peaceful elections and restoring the Democratic system of governance after 6 years of central rule.
The meeting which besides others was attended by Vice President, Bilal Bazaz and General Secretary/Chief Spokesperson Imtiyaz Ahmad Bazaz after about a year emphasized the need to strengthen the organization as it is the need of hour in a democratic system. The members of the executive body discussed the difficulties and the hardships faced by the media fraternity in Kashmir for the last several years and expressed their hope for a new dawn in the UT especially for the media.
The members narrated a very grim situation vis-à-vis state policy towards media in Kashmir. The members of the executive added that several senior most journalists were targeted by the state information department and other agencies. And state reined blessings on a new kind of non-professional amateur type lay-men who have been donning the journalistic caps. The members of the executive council expressed their helplessness in handling such pampered nonsense in the name of journalism.
However, the executive council expressed a hope that the new democratically elected government will respect the sanctity of this important pillar of democracy. At the end, the president, Mir Ajaz Ahmad appealed the new government led by a young and energetic leader Omer Abullah to restore the pristine glory of the media in Jammu & Kashmir. He urged upon the authorities especially the Information department to be impartial while handling media and respect the genuine media persons, instead of reining its blessings on puppets.
JK Media Guild, which is the largest association of media persons in Jammu & Kashmir hoped that the Omer Abdullah government will undo all unethical and unjustified decisions taken earlier which lowered the morale of the fraternity and forced many stay away from discharging their professional duties. CNI