MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Electronic and Photojournalists Association (EPJA) on Friday paid tribute to the journalist community in India-held Kashmir for highlighting human rights violations by Indian forces at their own peril.

The tributes came at a meeting held with association’s president Khawaja Kashif Mir in the chair.

The meeting declared Yasin Dar, the Srinagar-based Kashmiri photojournalist, a “hero of Kashmiri journalists” after a photograph of him rescuing an injured schoolgirl during a recent crackdown by Indian forces on Kashmiri students went viral on social media.

“The work being done by Kashmiri journalists in general and photojournalists in particular has helped the outside world realise the extent of barbarism let loose by Indian troops on innocent and unarmed Kashmiri people,” said Mr Mir, who is himself a television reporter.

“From this side of the bloody dividing line, we not only acknowledge their valuable contribution to the cause, but also express complete solidarity and support with them,” he added.

“We want to tell our colleagues across the divide that our hearts beat with them and that we stand with them,” Mir said.

The EPJA vehemently condemned assaults on Kashmiri journalists and demanded that international organisations working for the rights of journalists play their role in ensuring their safety.

In this regard, the meeting recalled the recent manhandling of photojournalist Tauseef Mustafa and other journalists outside the residence of senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and said such incidents reflected the frustration of Indian authorities.

“By targeting journalists, who are doing nothing but carrying out their professional duties, India cannot hide the situation on the ground,” Mr Mir said, asking New Delhi to rein in its forces so as to halt the recurring assaults on the media.

Prominent among the attendees were Sajjad Qayyum, Syed Arif Bahar, Shahzad Khan, Adeel Ahmed, Raja Shujaat, Mir Iqbal, Ejaz Kazmi and Sardar Zulfiqar Ali.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2017