What has changed for Kashmiri newspapers since the Indian government’s clampdown in the Valley last August? “It is better if you leave without hearing our answers,” replied an anxious editor at the prominent English daily Rising Kashmir, on a late December evening.
As the longest period ever of internet blackout continues in Kashmir, local papers are the sole window to matters that concern the Kashmiris. Yet, the newsroom at Rising Kashmir lacked its usual enthusiasm for reporting. Instead, it was cloaked in unease.
