[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FREE PRESS IN INDIA

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                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 22, 1996

  Mr. KING. Mr. Speaker, the facade of a free press in India is 
crumbling before our eyes. Just the other day the Indian Government 
sized all the copies of the Kashmir Times newspaper. The seizure was 
reported in the May 13 issues of the Tribune of Chandigarh. I am 
introducing this article into the Record. According to the report, the 
newspaper was seized for printing objectionable material about the 
election process. This objectionable material is not specified. An 
Urdu-language newspaper, Awam, had been seized previously for similar 
reasons. India likes to tell the world that it has a free press, but 
this episode shows that this claim is false.
  These seizures would be bad enough if they were isolated incidents. 
They are not. This repeats a pattern of Indian Government behavior 
which has previously been prevalent in Punjab, Khalistan, as well as 
Kashmir, and other states seeking self-determination. Many of us 
condemned those incidents, including a blanket censorship order imposed 
on Punjab, Khalistan, back in 1994. I hope that the new Government of 
India will move to put an end to this kind of repressive activity and 
that India will finally live up to its democratic principles.

                    [From the Tribune, May 13, 1996]

                     Copies of Kashmir Times Seized

       Srinagar, May 12.--The state authorities today seized all 
     copies of the Jammu-based leading English daily, The Kashmir 
     Times, at Srinagar airport.
       The step was taken as the copies of the daily carried 
     ``objectionable material'' regarding the on-going election 
     process, the police said here.
       The police had seized all copies of a national Urdu daily, 
     Awam, for similar reasons on Friday last.

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