Jammu and Kashmir Police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) against two media outlets in the valley after an army complaint that news reports about a Shopian-based school being "pressurized" by them to hold a Republic Day function is "baseless".
On 30 Jan, an FIR was filed by the local army unit against the Kashmir Walla and another South Kashmir news site, Kashmiriyat, which had also given a similar allegation to the school administration. The case is linked to the first-ever Republic Day celebration at a school in the Shopian district, the school officials allegedly told the local news outlets that they were "pressurized by the army" to lend them the school space.
First-ever Republic Day celebration in Sophian school
As per the report published in the Kashmir Walla, "On 26 January, the video of the first-ever celebration of R-Day at a school in the Shopian district appeared on social media wherein men and young boys were seen holding the tri-colors as the Indian national anthem played in the background.
The next day, on contacting the founder-chairman of the school, Mohammad Yusuf Mantoo, he said that the army's 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was pursuing him to "hold this function for the past one month". Mantoo further added, "Army insisted that we should do it, put our school's banner in front, however, we did not agree. But they insisted that you have to do it. We were under pressure."
However, on the 30th of Jan, Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom, a private school based in Shopian's Imamsahib area, negated the news reports of any 'pressure' from the Army in organizing a republic day function in the institution following which an FIR has been filed by the local police. Meanwhile, Fahad Shah, Editor-in-chief of The Kashmir Walla, said, "The Kashmir Walla stands by its reporting and will produce related evidence if and when required in a court of law."
