Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 3: World Press Freedom Day was observed today by Press Club of Jammu and several other organizations of journalists.
On the occasion, Press Club of Jammu adopted a unanimous resolution seeking free movement of journalists hailing from South Asian region to the neighbouring countries, including Pakistan and PoK for various reporting assignments. This was for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir that such a resolution has been adopted unanimously by the media fraternity.
Kavinder Gupta, Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, was chief guest and Dr Ashok Aima, Vice Chancellor of Central University, Jammu, was guest of honour on this occasion.
Kavinder Gupta said that there is full freedom of Press in Jammu and Kashmir State as well as in the country under Article 19 and word `Press’ should not be misused while doing any assignment. He said that there is mushrooming of newspapers in the State and they should maintain high standard of journalism.
Dr Ashok Aima said that the youngsters, who are adopting journalism as their profession, they should take it as passion and not just to earn money.
KB Jandial, former Director, Information said that there is freedom for journalists to express their views, but media also should take special care of it as they cannot malign image of an individual/organization.
President of the PCJ, Ashwani Kumar, proposed that if journalists from neighbouring countries in South Asian region are allowed to converge freely under one roof it would help bridge the divide between the countries. “Time has come for these nations to open their borders for Reporters so that they can interact with cross section of people and highlight their grievances for early redressal,” he stressed and added that decision on visa on arrival should be taken between India and Pakistan to those accredited and working journalists who are from J&K and PoK.
Senior journalist Sanjit Khajuria, Pawan Sharma, Pardeep Dutta, M K Bangroo and Secretary General of the Press Club of Jammu, Zorawar Singh Jamwal also spoke on the occasion
World Press Freedom Day was also observed today by the Department of Journalism and Mass communication (DJMC), Islamic University of Science and Technology by organizing a formal session discussing the history of the press regulations in the State.
On the occasion, faculty members and the students deliberated on the issues pertaining to the ‘Freedom of Press’ with special references to the status of the media freedom in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Be it the tenure of Maharajas, Sheikh Abdullah, Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi or Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, media of Kashmir has never breathed in free air”, said Dr Ruheela Hassan.
Coordinator Print Journalism, Dr Rabia Noor said, “working here is a struggle between survival and professional ethics”. She suggested students to also explore the alternate sources of media like web portals. Trainees of the course also shared their experiences on this occasion that concluded with a quiz program.
Reports from Mendhar said that World Press Freedom was also observed by Press Council Mendhar, under the chairmanship of M S Nazki, who threw light on importance and relevance of the day.
Rameez Raja, president, Youth Association Mendhar, Sardar Nadeem Rafiq Khan, Tazeem Qazmi, Qamar Abas Kayani and others also spoke on the occasion.
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