Watch: TV news reporter complains of being manhandled by security forces at Srinagar airport
‘If the airport does not allow usage of cameras, they could have told us politely. What was the need to manhandle journalists doing their job?’
On August 24, TV news channel Aaj Tak’s reporter Mausami Singh, as well as other journalists, were allegedly manhandled by security forces at Jammu & Kashmir’s Srinagar airport. Singh was covering the Opposition delegation that was visiting the state to check on the conditions there, but was eventually sent back.
According to the report, Singh and other journalists were roughed up because Srinagar airport is a defence airport and hence does not allow photography or videography. Singh also pointed to scratches on her hand that she received during the scuffle with the police. “I was attacked by five women personnel, I did not know what’s happening,” she said.
A delegation of Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, attempted to visit Srinagar to review conditions in the state after its special status was scrapped on August 5, but were sent back from the airport. Twenty days after the announcement about Article 370 no longer being applicable, restrictions on communication and the movement of people are still in place.