The International Muslim Women’s union has written to the united Nations General Assembly and said that upheld the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Over the years, a host of international Conventions were developed on the basis of the Declaration, principal among them are: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 19) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article I).
In Jammu Kashmir, it is lamentable that the Indian media’s news/story on Kashmir is framed not to depict the actual reality, but to construct a reality that suits nationalistic agenda of the Indian government and mislead not only the Indian population but also downplay the role of international media in highlighting the miseries of Kashmiris.
The IMWU has said that the Local Kashmir media media faces enormous challenges to work in an atmosphere it keeps struggling to strike a balance in reporting the reality under threats and pressures from the authorities; there is no freedom of opinion or expression.
Following the 5 August 2019 complete clampdown on civil liberties and total communication blackout (including shutdown of internet and social media), journalists are working in extremely difficult conditions, they are being harassed, summoned to police stations, arbitrarily arrested and unlawfully detained.
This is meant to intimidate Kashmiri journalists, stifle press freedom and put obstacles to perform their professional duties.
The United Nations High Commissioner has taken notice of the cases of Musarat Zahra, Gowahar Geelani, Peerzada Ashiq and Qazi Shibli, Editor of The Kashmiriyat.