The Press Club of India in New Delhi issued a clarification on Friday, two days after a group of activists who visited Jammu and Kashmir this week claimed that it had barred them from showing footage they had recorded in the region at a press conference. The group was at the club on Wednesday to share their findings from the visit after the state lost its special status.
The club’s managing committee said that there were certain logistical problems due to which they were unable to provide the facilities required to show the footage. “The conference hall on the first floor has a seating capacity of nearly 60 persons and at the time of the press conference about 250 to 300 persons turned up, making it a stampede like situation,” the statement read. “The organizers were requested to shift to the ground floor lawn as the conference hall was ill equipped to deal with such a heavy rush and with its wooden floor, it would have collapsed.”
The authorities claimed that they were unable to let them show the footage as the lawn area did not have the provisions for it. They also claimed to have been forced to send out a statement as the organisers claimed the club had denied them permission to show the visuals.
“Initially, the PCI refrained from getting into controversy as it did not want the name of noted economist Jean Dreze to be dragged into this episode which is being sought to be turned into a mudslinging match,” the authorities said. The authorities also condemned the allegations against it, calling them “totally false and concocted”, and said that facts were being manipulated to drag the club into a controversy.
“The PCI has always given space to different organisations for holding their seminars and press conferences and uphold the freedom of expression as guaranteed in our Constitution and will continue to do the same in future,” it added.
The group, which had called the press conference, comprised of activist and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) member Kavita Krishnan, economist Jean Dreze, Maimoona Mollah of the All India Democratic Women’s Association and Vimal Bhai of the National Alliance of People’s Movements. They claimed that Jammu and Kashmir had become an “open jail” and that the narrative presented by authorities was different than what they had seen in Kashmir.
Here is the full statement from the Press Club of India:
The Press Club of India had a booking in the name of Delhi Solidarity Group and All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) for holding a Press Conference on August 14, 2019 at 12 noon.
The press conference was held at the first floor conference hall and eminent economist Jean Dreze was named as the Chief Guest. In the booking form it was nowhere mentioned that the organizers would require any additional facilities. The column was left vacant, leaving PCI to believe and trust that it would only be a press conference needing microphones and speakers.
The conference hall on the first floor has a seating capacity of nearly 60 persons and at the time of the press conference about 250 to 300 persons turned up, making it a stampede like situation. The organizers were requested to shift to the ground floor lawn as the conference hall was ill equipped to deal with such a heavy rush and with its wooden floor, it would have collapsed.
The Press Conference was held at the lawn but it did not have the facility for showing videos.
We are forced to issue this statement of facts as organizers claimed that the PCI had denied permission to show videos at the press conference.
Initially, the PCI refrained from getting into controversy as it did not want the name of noted economist Jean Dreze to be dragged into this episode which is being sought to be turned into a mudslinging match.
The Press Club of India regrets the conduct of some of the persons, on behalf of the organizers, who are spreading the rumour that the PCI had withheld permission to show videos which is totally false and concocted. By twisting facts and presenting a totally different picture, PCI is being dragged into an unseemly and uncalled for controversy.
The PCI has always given space to different organisations for holding their seminars and press conferences and uphold the freedom of expression as guaranteed in our Constitution and will continue to do the same in future. The PCI also abhors the tendency to spread baseless rumours on social media and websites about the institution.Managing Committee
Press Club of India
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