ISLAMABAD: Pakistani information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Wednesday arch-rival India had refused to allow five foreign journalists to travel to Pakistan to attend an August 5 parliamentary session in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir region.
August 5 marks two years since India withdrew Indian-ruled Kashmir’s autonomy in order to tighten its grip over the territory, sparking outrage in Pakistan, the downgrading of diplomatic ties and a suspension of bilateral trade.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors both control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full.
“India has refused to allow five foreign journalists permission to visit Pak, they were supposed to attend 5th August session of Azad Kashmir Assembly,” Hussain wrote on Twitter. “So much of #FreedomofExpression.”
India has refused to allow five foreign journalists permission to visit Pak, they were supposed to attend 5th August session of Azad Kashmir Assembly, so much of #FreedomofExpression we want India to allow independent Journalists to visit IOK and let them report facts
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 4, 2021
The issue was also highlighted by the Pakistani foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who said it reflected “shrinking space for free speech and independent journalism under a dictatorial regime” in India.
The denial of permission by India to 5 international journalists to travel to Pakistan, in which a visit to the Azad Kashmir Assembly was scheduled, is another damning indication of shrinking space for free speech and independent journalism under a dictatorial regime.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) August 4, 2021
Human rights minister Shireen Mazari wrote in a tweet:
“Question is whether these foreign journos will now report on this refusal and expose the growing myth of Indian democracy.”
Why did we expect otherwise from the fascist Modi regime? Question is whether these foreign journos will now report on this refusal and expose the growing myth of Indian democracy under fascist Modi? https://t.co/EfuYYbnTZD
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) August 4, 2021
None of the three ministers named the five journalists who were allegedly denied travel permission by India. The Indian government and foreign office have not yet commented on the news.
