Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times, moved a petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking an end to the “debilitating restrictions” on the media in Kashmir.

The “debilitating restrictions imposed through the complete shutdown on Internet and telecommunication services, and severe curbs on the movement of photo journalists and reporters be immediately relaxed in order to ensure the freedom of the press and media,” the petition says.

The plea is likely to be heard this week along with four other public interest petitions filed against the government decisions on Kashmir.

Bhasin, represented by activist lawyer Vrinda Grover, has alleged she was unable to publish the Kashmir edition of Kashmir Times since the restrictions on communications and movements have virtually resulted in a blockade of the media. Kashmir Times is published simultaneously from Jammu and Srinagar.

Of Kashmir’s nearly 180 English and Urdu daily newspapers, only five have been publishing because of the restrictions, Reuters has reported.

Bhasin has argued the restrictions have violated the rights journalists enjoy under Articles 14 (equality) and 19 (freedom of speech and profession) of the Constitution.

The media curbs, “at a time when significant political and constitutional changes are being undertaken in Delhi to the status of J&K, (are) fuelling anxiety, panic, alarm, insecurity and fear” among the residents, the petition says.

An information blackout “is a direct and grave violation of the right of the people to know about the decisions that directly impact their lives and their future”, it argues.

“The media cannot report on the aforesaid developments and neither can the opinions of the residents of Kashmir be reported about.”

Bhasin has complained that mobile phone networks, Internet services and landline phone connectivity have been shut down since August 4, leaving Kashmir and a few districts in Jammu isolated.

Another petition, moved by Supreme Court advocate Shakir Shabir, has termed the amendment of Article 370 “illegal, unconstitutional” and complained that hundreds of thousands have been illegally detained in their homes in Kashmir.

“The people of the region have been… detained in their homes and the entire state has been turned into (a) garrison. The very fundamentals of

a democratic nation are shook (sic) by the illegal and arbitrary actions of the respondents (the Centre and the J&K administration),” the petition, moved on Friday, says.