Several Opposition leaders have criticised the Jammu and Kashmir administration for detaining a freelance journalist who had reported on the closure of the Sadna Pass in Kupwara and its impact on those needing medical care in Karnah valley, The Wire reported on Saturday.
Khushal Khawaja, a journalist based in North Kashmir, was detained by the police on Thursday for several hours and “released with the condition that he report again at the police station” the next day, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed in a social media post on Friday.
Mufti said the detention followed Khawaja’s reporting on the closure of the Sadna Pass, which she said stranded critical patients and led to the death of a young girl.
“Instead of fixing roads, healthcare, and the long-vacant sub-divisional magistrate post, [the] authorities are targeting the messenger,” Mufti added. “This is a misuse of authority.”
Khawaja told The Wire that he was detained after he questioned the alleged negligence of the staff at a government-run hospital following the death of a seven-year-old girl from Luntha village in the Karnah valley.
The child died near a helipad before she could be airlifted to Srinagar for treatment.
“Her oxygen saturation was about 80 and I questioned the absence of a doctor and the lack of protocols in handling such patients because she had no oxygen support,” he told the news outlet. “Police then came near the helipad, seized my phone and held me till around 8 pm.”
He said that he pleaded with the authorities to explain why he was being held, but claimed “they had no answer”.
A day earlier, Khawaja had published a video report on social media documenting the aftermath of heavy snowfall that led to the closure of the Sadna Pass, the only road link between the Karnah valley and mainland Kashmir.
He had interviewed residents and reported that several patients were stranded at the sub-district hospital in Karnah, including two who had reportedly suffered heart attacks, according to The Wire.
The residents featured in the report alleged that National Conference legislator from the constituency, Javaid Ahmad Mirchal, was absent during the crisis.
A district administration official rejected allegations of inaction, saying some patients had been transported by ambulance across the Sadna Pass in difficult snowbound conditions.
The unidentified official described the girl’s death as “an unfortunate tragedy” and said air transport had been affected by adverse weather.
“She passed away in Karnah just when she was being put into a helicopter,” he told The Wire. “However, four other patients who were also with her were airlifted. The Border Roads Organisation has also been working day and night to open the Sadna Pass.”
On Friday, Awami Ittehad Party leader Abrar Rashid alleged that Khawaja was detained at the behest of Mirchal.
Rashid said in a social media post that the detention and harassment of a “qualified journalist” was “condemnable and unfortunate”
He called on the authorities to intervene and prevent unnecessary harassment of an innocent person.
However, Mirchal has denied any role in the detention, saying he learned about it through social media and that those responsible should explain why Khawaja was taken into custody, The Wire reported.
“I will never stoop to such a level,” he said.
Also read: ‘Attempt to silence national press’: Four Kashmiri journalists get police summons
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