J&K: Journalist Fahad Shah detained as his portal lacked stories on good governance, say police

The Jammu and Kashmir Police said that stories of good governance in the Union Territory were missing on The Kashmir Walla, a news portal run by detained journalist Fahad Shah.

The police made the allegations in a dossier prepared to justify Shah’s detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act. Shah was booked under the Act on March 14.

The Public Safety Act allows the authorities to hold individuals in custody without trial for up to two years to prevent them from acting in any manner that is prejudicial to “the security of the state or the maintenance of the public order”.

Police in the dossier alleged that Shah’s “modus operandi” was to carry one or two stories every month based “entirely on the victimhood narrative that glorify stone pelters, terrorists and justify separatism and violence”.

“The SSP, Srinagar has reported in the dossier that being a head of ‘Kashmirwalla’ online news portal (thekashmirwalla.com) you are continuously propagating stories against the interest and security of the nation,” the dossier read.

The police alleged that journalist Fahad Shah is an “anti-national element under the cover of journalism” who propagated selective stories that corresponded with the propaganda of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and separatists.

They also claimed to know of “a number of incidents” where Shah allegedly incited violence, leading to disturbance of public order. The police, however, did not state what these instances were.

The police alleged that Shah’s mindset could be deduced from his tweets.

“You are filled with hate against the Union of India and every layman can judge your intentions by visiting or accessing your social media timelines,” the statement said.

In the dossier, while justifying Shah’s arrest under the stringent law, the police alleged that he could pose a threat to the security of Jammu and Kashmir through alleged unlawful activities.

Police also claimed that Shah “did not mend his ways” despite “being given many chances”.

They added that Shah was not meant to be punished through preventive detention, but he was to be stopped from indulging in what they claimed are nefarious activities.

They also said that it was easy for Shah to brainwash people against the government since he had high educational credentials.

On March 16, Shah was shifted to the Kupwara district jail from the Soura police station in Srinagar.

The journalist was first arrested on February 4 by Pulwama Police for posting allegedly anti-national content on social media and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was granted bail after 22 days by a National Investigation Agency court.

However, hours after he got bail on February 26, Shah was arrested again the same day by Shopian Police in another case related to provocation for riots. On March 5, he got bail in the second matter but was arrested immediately in another case.

In this case, Shah had been charged under Indian Penal Code sections that provide punishment for rioting, attempt to murder, abetment, printing or engraving defamatory matter and public mischief.

On March 11, he was charged under UAPA.

On February 6, several press bodies, including the Editors Guild, had demanded that Shah be released immediately. The Editors Guild had asked the authorities in the Union Territory to ensure that FIRs, intimidatory questioning and wrongful detainment were not used as tools for suppressing press freedom.

Besides Shah, Sajad Gul, another journalist from The Kashmir Walla, was detained under the Public Safety Act on January 16, a day after a court had given him bail in a criminal conspiracy case.

In its dossier for the use of the Act against Gul, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had justified the move suggesting he might be granted bail otherwise. The authorities had claimed that Gul’s release would be a threat not only to the Bandipora district, but to the entire Kashmir Valley.