No ban on newspapers in J&K: Mehbooba Mufti to Venkaiah Naidu

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir government has told the Centre that there is no ban on publication of newspapers in the Valley, amid the alleged clampdown on media in Kashmir.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti last night and sought details of the matter.

"Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Venkaiah Naidu last night with regard to the reports of a ban on newspapers in the state. The CM clarified to the Minister that there is no such ban on publication of newspapers in the Valley," a senior I&B official told PTI.

Local newspapers have failed to hit the stands for the last three days in curfew-bound Kashmir after the government's alleged clampdown on media in the wake of widespread protests in the Valley.

No local daily--English, Urdu or Kashmiri--was available.

Jammu and Kashmir Police had on Friday allegedly closed down the offices of at least two printing presses after seizing plates of newspaper and printed copies in Rangreth Industrial Estate in the outskirts of the city here.

Yesterday, Mufti's advisor Amitabh Mattoo had said the decision to ban publication of newspapers in the Valley did not have the consent of the Chief Minister and might have been taken at the local level for which "heads will roll".