Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir said they arrested a prominent journalist on accusations of publishing “anti-national content,” in a widening crackdown against media in the disputed region. Fahad Shah, the editor of news portal Kashmir Walla, was summoned for questioning in southern Pulwama town on Friday and later arrested. Police said he was identified from among Facebook users and portals that had published “anti-national content,” without specifying what it is. It said the content was posted with “criminal intention” to create fear and could “provoke the public to disturb law and order.” It said such content was “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities.”
The case relates to a gunfight between rebels trapped inside a civilian home and Indian troops in Pulwama on January 30. Police had said a Kashmiri rebel commander was killed in the fighting along with a Pakistani and another local militant. They described the fourth slain teenage boy, the house owner’s son, as a “hybrid” militant, a term authorities began using last year for alleged militants with no police record and who operate as civilians. Kashmir Walla carried a series of reports on the fighting, presenting both sides of the story. Shah, 34, was arrested under India’s harsh anti-terror and sedition laws, which include punishment of up to seven years.
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