Well not be silenced, says Kashmir Times after office raid by J&K police for 'activities against country'

The Jammu and Kashmir police's State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Thursday carried out searches at the head office of Kashmir Times in Jammu for allegedy promoting activities against the country. The PTI reported that cartridges of AK rifles and some rounds of pistol, among other things were recovered during the raids. Quoting officials, the news agency said that SIA sleuths conducted a thorough search of the newspaper's premises and computers after a case was registered against the publication and its promoters. The promoters of the publication are likely to be questioned, they informed. Reacting to the raid, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Singh Choudhary said action should follow only in cases where wrongdoing is established and not for the sake of pressure. If they have done something wrong, then action should be taken. If you do it only to (build) pressure, then that will be wrong, Choudhary told reporters here. The Kashmir Times reacted to the raids saying it was yet another attempt to silence us. The reported raids on our office, the baseless accusations of activities 'inimical to the state,' and the coordinated crackdown on the Kashmir Times are yet another attempt to silence us, a statement published on the Kashmir Times website said. Criticising the government is not the same as being inimical to the state. In fact, it is the very opposite. A robust, questioning press is essential to a healthy democracy. Our work of holding power to account, investigating corruption, amplifying marginalised voices strengthens our nation. It does not weaken it, the statement noted. Since 1954, the Kashmir Times (whose founding editor was Ved Bhasin), has stood as a pillar of independent journalism, it claimed. The accusations leveled against us are designed to intimidate, to delegitimise, and ultimately to silence. We will not be silenced. Journalism is not a crime. Accountability is not treason. And we will continue to inform, investigate, and advocate for those who depend on us. The state may have the power to raid our offices. But it cannot raid our commitment to the truth, the statement issued by editors, Prabodh Jamwal and Anuradha Bhasin noted. Our print edition was suspended in 2021-2022 after relentless targeting, but we continue the operation digitally. All our reporting and writing are publicly available onkashmirtimes.com, the statement further added. (With inputs from PTI)