The Latest Breaking News from Irfan Mehraj

The Committee to Protect Journalists demands ‘immediate release of four arbitrarily detained Kashmiri journalists’.

Since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, India has slipped in rank from 140 to 150 in the World Press Freedom Index of 180 countries compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

The International Federation of Journalists yesterday condemned “government censorship, press blackouts and restriction of journalists’ social media accounts” in Punjab as a fallout of the search for Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. It described these moves as “dire impositions on press freedom and democracy in India”.

In the last fortnight, Indian democracy and press freedom have taken a beating. But there have also been words spoken that are like a balm to an ever-deepening wound. They may not be able to stop this wound from festering, or to heal it, but they are worth noting and…