The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent watchdog body, has called on the authorities in Indian Occupied Kashmir to cease harassing journalist Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor-in-Chief of The Wire, a news website, and allow journalists to report freely.

According to media reports, the occupied Kashmir police headquarters issued a legal notice on July 3 to Varadarajan of The Wire, indicating that police were considering legal action against the outlet for allegedly “propagating concocted stories” and “rumor mongering,” and asking Varadarajan’s response to those allegations within one week.

“Jammu and Kashmir authorities’ notice threatening legal action against journalist Siddarth Varadarajan only adds to the ongoing targeted harassment of The Wire in obvious retaliation for its critical reporting,” said CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator Steven Butler.

“Authorities should immediately withdraw the notice and allow The Wire and all media outlets to report freely on issues of public interest.”

The police document cites a June 7 article regarding the killing of a Kashmiri resident in police custody, and a June 28 article on the killing of a police officer in the region’s Pulwama district. Varadarajan told CPJ that The Wire stood by both stories.

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