Reacting sharply to the alleged anti-India propaganda spread by a section of the media in the Kashmir Valley, the Union Home Ministry has cracked the whip on five newspapers, including the popular Kashmir Times, and decided to starve them of official advertisements and other support.
"A joint secretary in the MHA has sent a circular to 30-odd Union ministries and agencies, including public sector units, asking them to snap all advertisement and financial support to the five newspapers," a senior official said.
Besides Kashmir Times, English dailies Greater Kashmir and Rising Kashmir and Urdu newspapers Buland Kashmir and Ethlaat are facing the home ministry's wrath. Buland Kashmir is a popular Urdu publication of the Greater Kashmir group.
Refusing to share details of the letter, the official said: "It is a confidential communication aimed at 'newspapers indulging in publishing news fostering separatism and leading to disharmony in the Kashmir region'."
The missive directs the government agencies to withdraw "patronage in the form of advertisement and other support from the targeted newspapers".
A home ministry spokesperson confirmed the communication. "The (home) ministry has decided that newspapers with anti-national agenda will not be given any government support. If these newspapers change their attitude, the ministry can re-consider its decision," he said.
The home ministry has issued such directions earlier also. Government departments had received a similar direction in January and March 2010. But the latest communication, issued in August this year, has asked the organisations to "ensure the direction is executed without fail".
It was sent to the DAVP, which falls under the information and broadcasting ministry. The DAVP is a steady source of advertisement revenue for regional papers from the Centre.
The letter was also sent to government agencies operating from the Valley. These include the NHPC, SAIL, Coal India, three major oil corporations, the State Bank of India, local police, paramilitary forces and the defence ministry. The railways, particularly the Northern Railway and IRCON, which are associated with the J&K rail project, have also been asked to comply.
Publications such as Kashmir Times, Greater Kashmir and Ethlaat have been incurring losses since the summer of 2010, when violence erupted in a major way in the Valley. The yearly revenue loss is in the range of Rs 60 lakh for Ethlaat and Rs 10-12 crore for Kashmir Times.
"We are incurring losses from April this year. But since August, the loss is about Rs 1 crore per month," Kashmir Times editor Prabhod Jamwal said. "The DAVP and other government agencies working in the Valley used to be our regular source of revenue," he added.
For Greater Kashmir, the monthly advertisement revenue loss would range between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 12 lakh. Ethlaat's owner Maulvi Ifthikhar Hussain Ansari said: "We have no clue whether it has been done by the Centre or the state government. But we are losing Rs 50 lakh to Rs 60 lakh in advertisement revenue per month because of this."
Ansari is also vice-president of the PDP, the state's main opposition party.
The home ministry's position on Kashmiri newspapers has hardened in the past couple of years. The state's newspapers are closely monitored and a daily report is sent to home minister P. Chidambaram.
Sources said the situation became critical after the "provocative" coverage of last year's stone-pelting protests by some newspapers in the Valley. More than 100 persons had died in the violent clashes.