J&K Govt Takes Control Of Kashmir Press Club

Srinagar: A few days after the Jammu and Kashmir administration held the registration of the Kashmir Press Club, it took control of the premises too on Monday.

It cited a “potential law and order situation” and said the club “ceases to exist as a registered body”, reported The Indian Express.

In a sharp response to the government’s move, the Kashmir Press Club’s elected body said the move was aimed at shutting down the club and “stifle the voice of journalists in Kashmir”.

The club with over 300 members has been closed since Saturday when a rival journalists’ group barged in and declared themselves to be the “interim body”.

“The factual position is that KPC as a registered body has ceased to exist and its managing body too has come to a legal closure on 14 July 2021, the date on which its tenure came to an end,” the J&K administration said via an official release on Monday.

“In its failure to register itself under the central Societies of Registration Act, further compounded by its failure to hold elections to constitute a new managing body, some individuals of the erstwhile club have been committing illegalities on several counts, least of which are false portrayal of being owner-managers of an entity which is no longer in legal vogue,” the release further said.

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