Kashmir Newspapers Publish Blank Front Pages To Protest Govt’s Decision To Stop Ads To Two Dailies

Srinagar: All the major newspapers in Kashmir came up with blank front pages on Sunday to protest against the government’s decision to “stop advertisements” to two Srinagar-based newspapers.

“In protests against the unexplained denial of advertisements to Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader,” read the blank front pages of the newspapers published on Sunday.

The decision to come out with blank front pages was taken by the Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) that is also planning a protest march on Sunday afternoon.

The J-K government has stopped government advertisements to two local dailies Greater Kashmir – valley’s largest circulated English daily – and Kashmir Reader, another English daily published from Srinagar.

While there is no written order, the newspapers say they have been verbally told by the J-K’s Directorate of Information that the government has decided to stop advertisements to their publications.

The Kashmir Editor’s Guild has asked the government to at least explain the reason for stopping the advertisements to the two newspapers. The government is yet to come up with a reason, it says.

“At a time when world’s largest democracy is readying for one of the major electoral exercises on earth, the Kashmir Editors Guild is lamenting over the continued denial and unexplained halt to the rightful disbursal of government advertisements to Kashmir’s two major daily newspapers – Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader,” Kashmir Editor’s Guild said in a statement last week.

”The enigmatic decision is directly hitting the constitutional guarantees that encourage free media in democratic societies,” it said, announcing the protest march on Sunday afternoon.