Srinagar: Following the assault on journalists and Photojournalists at Hyderpora working with various local, national and International news organisations on Thursday afternoon staged a protest demonstration here at press colony.
Photojournalists Tawseef Mustafa who is working for Agence France Presse (AFP) and Mubashir Khan working with Greater Kashmir were assaulted by forces while performing professional duties outside the residence of Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The journalists said that they had gone there to cover the protest. “Cops stopped us and told us not to move forward. We waited for almost 15 minutes till Hurriyat leaders came out and we moved ahead to click the pictures, but again they stopped us and told us not to move ahead.”
AFP photographer Tawseef Mustafa was actually caught by an officer by his throat and attempted suffocating him. He even threatened him of dire consequences.
Farooq Javed Khan, the president of the Kashmir Press Photographers Association, who was personally present on the spot, said a police driver rushed his rakshak seemingly to hit the scribes. While they barely managed to save themselves, Mubashir Khan of Greater Kashmir had the vehicle crushing his foot.
The photographers, who are part of the highly dedicated and disciplined press corps, were waiting outside the venue and when the three leaders came out, and police started arresting them, they put their cameras on and started working. This was the time when cops deployed on the spot objected to their action and started marshaling them.
