Srinagar: Mar 07: The Press Club of Kashmir has expressed surprise over the statement of Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir regarding the Press Club of Kashmir and Jammu in assembly session in Jammu today, wherein he said that he would work for the revival of the clubs.
It was revealed that the executive bodies of both clubs felt that CM Omar Abdullah intended to give the impression that the clubs are defunct, which is far from the truth. The executive bodies of both clubs reiterated that two clubs are functional under the incumbent executive bodies.
However, the members expressed concern over the CM’s ignorance that both the Press clubs at Jammu and Srinagar already exist under proper management.
The Executive Members of the Club in an emergency meeting on Friday met here, also appreciated the
sentiments of the CM Omar Abdullah about Press freedom, which they hoped would be implemented in letter and spirit. Importantly, Press club of Kashmir is functional from a rented private building at Amira Kadal, near Gurudwara in Srinagar.
The president Mohammad Saleem Pandit and president press club of Jammu, Shri. Sanjeev Pragal presided over the meeting. The members equally criticized CM Omar Abdullah for skipping to provide any financial support to the respective clubs, notwithstanding the fact that the Clubs come under the purview of the LG of UT.
Among others , the meeting was attended by vice president Ayaz Hafiz, General Secretary Zulfikhar Majid, treasurer Farzana Mumtaz, while Jammu based Executive members including Asfaq Gowhar of Gulistan TV News and others joined the meeting virtually, besides the president of Press Club of Jammu .
General Secretary Zulfikhar shed light on the future proposals of the Press Club of Kashmir and disclosed that the executive body is proposing to offer a health insurance cover to the club members and their family members in the coming future, which will help mitigate the health issues of the journalists in the valley in particular.
