Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Jan 15: As the senior journalist and Bureau Chief of Times of India, Muhammad Saleem Pandit, today took over as the interim President of Kashmir Press Club, various journalist associations in the Valley have termed it as illegal.
Earlier, the KPC issued statement here this afternoon in which it was said that Pandit has taken over as president KPC.
“The elected body served its tenure for a period of two years, which ended on July 14, 2021. As the previous committee delayed the elections for unknown reasons the Club was headless. Thereafter for around six months, putting media fraternity to unwanted trouble”, the statement said.
The statement further said that now therefore on January 15, 2022 various journalist organizations across Kashmir unanimously decided to form an interim body of three members with M Saleem Pandit as president, Zulfikar Majid, Bureau Chief of Deccan Herald as General Secretary and Arshid Rasool Editor Daily Gadyal as Treasurer of the Club till elections are held in free and fair manner.
In the meantime, All the Kashmir-based journalists have expressed anguish over the “illegal and arbitrary takeover of the KPC by some journalists with open support from the local administration”.
“On January 15, the day when the administration had declared weekend lockdown in view of Covid surge, a group of journalists barged into the club office and forcibly took control of the club by keeping the office members hostage. Large number of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed beforehand for this highly condemnable and completely illegal move”, reads the joint statement.
“The authorities had already communicated about the mandatory re- registration, which was initiated by the KPC management, but it took authorities more than six months to verify the credentials of the management body. On 29 December, the re-registration was finally issued following that the Club decided to initiate the process of fresh elections and also announced the date. But all of a sudden a group of journalists, including some non members, approached the district administration with a proposal for an “interim body” and it is followed by a communication from the Government that the re-registration has been kept in abeyance”, the statement reads.
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