Stopped, Beaten, Prevented From Working: Everyday Troubles of the J&K Journalist thewire.in

Shahid Khan shudders as he recalls the September 7 incident when he was beaten up by a group of policemen while covering Muharram processions in the Rainawari locality of Srinagar. “I was among six photojournalists covering the event. Suddenly the escort of a senior police officer arrived at the spot and started beating us,” said Khan who works with the Jammu-based daily, Reporter North. “I was thrashed by a policeman who used his cane for at least five minutes. He kept telling me ‘why do you go out to shoot events, you create problems for us’,” said Khan. “They kept beating me and didn’t listen to a single word,” Khan said he has suffered a hairline fracture on his right shoulder. Doctors have advised him rest for three weeks. “The incident still gives me nightmares. At a time when I should have been telling the stories of Kashmir to the outside world, I myself have become a story,” he said.