After failing to impose an official gag on the local media in Kashmir, the state government has ensured that Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India (PBBCI) blacks out the situation in Kashmir.

Sources said that the Chief Minister’s Office summoned chiefs of the two regional news units of Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan to the civil secretariat last week where they were asked to turn a Nelson’s eye to events in Kashmir.

Radio Kashmir’s regional news head Mushtaq Tantry said that Naveen Choudhary, principal secretary to the chief minister, called him and Doordarshan’s regional news head Salman Qazi to his office last week. “We were reminded that as state-owned media, our role should be to help the government. Our coverage should be different from private media,” Tantry told Kashmir Reader.

Salman Qazi termed the meeting as “private” and refused to divulge details.