Rahber, an institution in Journalism, a photographer who covered the 1931 massacre, was the founder of an Urdu weekly. A member of Muslim Conference, a social worker and member of Social Reforms Committee, Batmaloo, the first president of now defunct All Kashmir Photographer’s association, and a political activist is one of the many forgotten faces of Kashmir’s politically charged mediascape, not found even in the footnotes of Kashmir’s history.
Sitting on a chair outside Rahber studio, Tariq Iqbal Rahber seems to be engaged in a rather passionate conversation, which I sense to be political in nature, with his salesperson.
I approach to ask him about Rahber newspaper that was started by his father in 1931, and now run by the family.
He guided me to the next lane where his elder brother, Shahid, runs a departmental store. As Tariq puts it, “he is the one who looks after Rahber Weekly now.”
With the New J&K Media Policy which for all intents and purposes has gagged the already heavily-censored media in Kashmir, discussions around the curtailment of freedom of press have been on in the valley and in the international media.
This media policy is the first “legal” document that censors press in Kashmir.
However, attack on press freedom has been an ubiquitous rule for every administration since the regime of the Dogras.
Rahber, an institution in Journalism, a photographer who covered the 1931 massacre, was the founder of an Urdu weekly. A member of Muslim Conference, a social worker and member of Social Reforms Committee, Batmaloo, the first president of now defunct All Kashmir Photographer’s association, and a political activist is one of the many forgotten faces of Kashmir’s politically charged mediascape, not found even in the footnotes of Kashmir’s history.
Sitting on a chair outside Rahber studio, Tariq Iqbal Rahber seems to be engaged in a rather passionate conversation, which I sense to be political in nature, with his salesperson.
I approach to ask him about Rahber newspaper that was started by his father in 1931, and now run by the family.
He guided me to the next lane where his elder brother, Shahid, runs a departmental store. As Tariq puts it, “he is the one who looks after Rahber Weekly now.”https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6939648741200667&output=html&h=280&slotname=6471025184&adk=1354937614&adf=3064643818&pi=t.ma~as.6471025184&w=764&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1603524048&rafmt=1&psa=1&guci=1.2.0.0.2.2.0.0&format=764×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreepresskashmir.news%2F2020%2F10%2F23%2Fof-journalism-and-censorship-the-forgotten-rahber%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&adsid=ChAI8KHP_AUQpNzJ2OGO8OkoEkwAXzsTWb-0mfQmWkLrO_ZLBysInLYtJijBXLCbYJefdkAJumfoK10jEKeOrWyGRD2naXNzqrjjzlEBZaUVSMGOOrpANg68L3wv_n0o&tt_state=W3siaXNzdWVyT3JpZ2luIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hZHNlcnZpY2UuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbSIsInN0YXRlIjowfV0.&dt=1603523872646&bpp=26&bdt=51382&idt=5557&shv=r20201021&cbv=r20190131&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dd76617e8e4b69b62-228bc5d33ec40077%3AT%3D1603523610%3ART%3D1603523610%3AS%3DALNI_MbQ2Tt5xmmStFN4Br2JiR_qStH2gA&prev_fmts=728×90%2C0x0%2C300x250&nras=1&correlator=6363964227975&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=434643857.1602482940&ga_sid=1603523877&ga_hid=327984123&ga_fc=0&iag=0&icsg=2211899771440&dssz=38&mdo=0&mso=0&u_tz=330&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_nplug=3&u_nmime=4&adx=135&ady=1343&biw=1349&bih=625&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=42530672&oid=3&psts=AGkb-H97_GU7kYwe4B6OZxbJ4mUUtMVRTEXtsq1-hWgsPdb4OVbGz5PCBgEcb6jY59Q%2CAGkb-H-ZtMpuDDp88Iz-pDsokJsVtT3ZrbLroCpaflwWtz9Rx4zHNdxYwjtVuA6C2VQl6Q&pvsid=1708859295772406&pem=81&rx=0&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C625&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CleEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=8320&bc=31&jar=2020-10-24-06&ifi=2&uci=a!2&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=56e6x9Pws9&p=https%3A//freepresskashmir.news&dtd=M
With the New J&K Media Policy which for all intents and purposes has gagged the already heavily-censored media in Kashmir, discussions around the curtailment of freedom of press have been on in the valley and in the international media.
This media policy is the first “legal” document that censors press in Kashmir.
However, attack on press freedom has been an ubiquitous rule for every administration since the regime of the Dogras.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6939648741200667&output=html&h=280&slotname=6471025184&adk=1354937614&adf=1507560167&pi=t.ma~as.6471025184&w=764&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1603524049&rafmt=1&psa=1&guci=1.2.0.0.2.2.0.0&format=764×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreepresskashmir.news%2F2020%2F10%2F23%2Fof-journalism-and-censorship-the-forgotten-rahber%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&adsid=ChAI8KHP_AUQpNzJ2OGO8OkoEkwAXzsTWb-0mfQmWkLrO_ZLBysInLYtJijBXLCbYJefdkAJumfoK10jEKeOrWyGRD2naXNzqrjjzlEBZaUVSMGOOrpANg68L3wv_n0o&tt_state=W3siaXNzdWVyT3JpZ2luIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hZHNlcnZpY2UuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbSIsInN0YXRlIjowfV0.&dt=1603523872672&bpp=7&bdt=51409&idt=6534&shv=r20201021&cbv=r20190131&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dd76617e8e4b69b62-228bc5d33ec40077%3AT%3D1603523610%3ART%3D1603523610%3AS%3DALNI_MbQ2Tt5xmmStFN4Br2JiR_qStH2gA&prev_fmts=728×90%2C0x0%2C300x250%2C764x280&nras=1&correlator=6363964227975&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=434643857.1602482940&ga_sid=1603523877&ga_hid=327984123&ga_fc=0&iag=0&icsg=2211899771440&dssz=38&mdo=0&mso=0&u_tz=330&u_his=1&u_java=0&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_nplug=3&u_nmime=4&adx=135&ady=1847&biw=1349&bih=625&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=42530672&oid=3&psts=AGkb-H97_GU7kYwe4B6OZxbJ4mUUtMVRTEXtsq1-hWgsPdb4OVbGz5PCBgEcb6jY59Q%2CAGkb-H-ZtMpuDDp88Iz-pDsokJsVtT3ZrbLroCpaflwWtz9Rx4zHNdxYwjtVuA6C2VQl6Q&pvsid=1708859295772406&pem=81&rx=0&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C625&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CleEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=8320&bc=31&jar=2020-10-24-06&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=1qz3QizgyG&p=https%3A//freepresskashmir.news&dtd=M
The rule that would imprison journalists and ban newspapers who wouldn’t adhere to the state’s unwritten ‘guidelines’, have been normalized in Kashmir.
One of the many newspapers that was banned multiple times during the Dogra raj is Rahber.
An Urdu weekly, it is still printed and circulated in Kashmir, particularly, Srinagar. The history of the man who started Rahber is rather quite telling of the motivations that drive journalists in Kashmir and the difficulties they tread through to ‘get the truth out’.
