{"id":189020,"date":"2025-11-28T12:05:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T07:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=189020"},"modified":"2025-11-28T14:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T09:07:57","slug":"demolition-of-journalist-arfaz-daings-home-sparks-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2025\/11\/28\/demolition-of-journalist-arfaz-daings-home-sparks-outrage.html","title":{"rendered":"Authorities demolish journalist Arfaz Ahmed\u2019s house in Jammu"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 320px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-189020-1\" width=\"320\" height=\"564\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/xJylCkPZlNkhsL9N.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/xJylCkPZlNkhsL9N.mp4\">https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/xJylCkPZlNkhsL9N.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Srinagar: The Jammu Development Authority (JDA), backed by a heavy Indian police contingent, has demolished the residential house of a local journalist, Arfaz Ahmed in Jammu region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir,<\/p>\n<p>According to Kashmir Media Service, the authorities demolished the house of the journalist in Narwal, Jammu,. However, the journalist said that he was not served any demolition notice beforehand.<\/p>\n<p>The demolition has triggered widespread anger on social media, with many calling it a devastating blow to a journalist who had invested years of savings and hard work into building his family home. Videos circulating online show bulldozers reducing the house to rubble within hours. Arfaz Ahmed, a freelance journalist known for covering social, political and human-rights issues in Jammu and Kashmir, said the JDA action was a targeted move.<\/p>\n<p>Critics have pointed out that such actions in IIOJK, including recent drives in the Kangan area of Ganderbal district, are frequently nit-picked for inadequate prior notice and lack of rehabilitation measures for affected families.<\/p>\n<p>Arfaz Ahmed, talking to the media said, \u201cEarlier, my house was demolished in Bathindi. I put up a brave face. I shifted to my parents\u2019 house. This house too was demolished. The house existed for more than 40 years. It\u2019s a selective drive. Only one house was demolished. Is my house the only illegal one in the entire Jammu city?.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The journalist said he sought time from the JDA team but was denied. \u201cThis is a message for those who are into fair and truthful journalism. Toe their line, else your shelter will be taken away. It\u2019s not easy to build a house,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Senior lawyers in Jammu, including Sheikh Shakeel and Zulkarnain Choudhary, condemned the JDA\u2019s move and termed it selective.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe IIOJK High Court\u2019s direction is clear that any drive against encroachers should start from the bigwigs. Around 20 lakh kanals are encroached upon in the occupied territory. However, one person was singled out. One cannot justify encroachment, but the JDA should act against all big violators and follow the rules and procedures,\u201d Shakeel said.<\/p>\n<p>Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Para also condemned the JDA\u2019s move. \u201cThe J&amp;K government must stop this bulldozer practice and review its decision to reject PDP\u2019s land regularisation bill. Homes are lives, not lines to be erased,\u201d Parra added.<\/p>\n<p>Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI)-M leader and legislator M.Y. Tarigami said demolition, carried out without prior notice, is deeply concerning. \u201cIf his ( Arfaz Ahmed) claims are true, it reflects a serious lapse in due process. No authority can bypass the procedure established by law. Accountability must follow,\u201d Tarigami said.<\/p>\n<p>The demolition of journalist Arfaz Ahmed\u2019s house is not just an administrative action \u2014 it is a shameful and deliberate attack on press freedom, democratic values, and the right to raise one\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n<p>Targeting a journalist for fulfilling his professional duty is unacceptable and deeply alarming. In a democracy, journalists are the eyes and ears of the people. If truth becomes a crime, democracy becomes a casualty.<\/p>\n<p>Today it is Arfaz Daing. Tomorrow \u2014 it could be any journalist who dares to speak truth to power.<\/p>\n<p>Press freedom is non-negotiable as an attack on one journalist is an attack on the entire democracy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JandKonline\/status\/1994280891586367777\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/JandKonline\/status\/1994280891586367777<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Srinagar: The Jammu Development Authority (JDA), backed by a heavy Indian police contingent, has demolished the residential house of a local journalist, Arfaz Ahmed in Jammu region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, According to Kashmir Media Service, the authorities demolished the house of the journalist in Narwal, Jammu,. However, the journalist said &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":189021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-189020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir","tag-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/00-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189020"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189044,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189020\/revisions\/189044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}