When it comes to Kashmir, you need to reconcile yourself to a few facts. First, you know as little about the goings-on there as the Indian news media condescends to tell you. And second, you know as much about the happenings there as you delve through alternative sources for news. And a corollary to the first would be that you believe as much rubbish as media wants you to.
If you thought from the coverage both in the print and broadcast media that Kashmir was finally in the news, well, here’s some news for you – you fell to the corollary machination. For the last two years while the Valley burned, all you had was either no coverage or skewed coverage. You just might concur that both are indeed much and the same.
But in the last one month, there was a common thread that ran through the coverage that was pelted out. The stories, photographs, footage all hit you in the face – those were about stone-pelting, by and large. You had photographs of youths pelting stones at police and paramilitary forces. You had interviews with “professional” stone-pelters. And, of course, you had in-depth analyses. At the end of the month you would have been cocksure in your conviction that what’s happening in the Valley is nothing but angry youths being made to pelt stones at Indian forces by secessionist elements. You would be as furious with these youths since your heart would have bled at learning of victims of these stone-pelters, be it in impotent print or on rabble-rousing TV. You, of course, would have known little about victims of Indian forces. You would know still lesser about the backdrop to the agitation. The media calls it “violence”, by the way.
Given this media landscape, you would be lucky to find a soul who would tell you how distorted the coverage, however precious little, is. Today’s Hindustan Times carries an article about the Kashmir coverage in the Indian news media by Soumitra Das. It’s a must-read.
Das writes:
To talk about Kashmir first, we are in complete denial, we toe the government’s line unquestioningly: that everything in Kashmir would be hunky-dory if Pakistan stopped meddling; that Kashmir is actually madly in love with the Indian Army and it is only Pakistan which is holding Kashmiris back from expressing their true feelings about the army, the paramilitary forces and the J&K Police in good measure; that India has done nothing to deserve the violence and turbulence in that state; that the stone-pelters are just paid agents of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba.
He goes on:
What is the truth? The truth could be that many Kashmiris are sick and tired of the Indian security forces; the truth could be that Kashmiris are looking for deliverance from the cycle of brutality in which they are caught. The truth could be that India had for years foisted corrupt and venal regimes in Srinagar through rigging and other acts of skullduggery. The truth could be that India had a chance to redeem itself when it brought in Sheikh Abdullah as chief minister of the state, but apart from fostering yet another political dynasty, the Abdullahs have had little impact on the climate of political feeling in the state. The truth could be that the stone pelters are the vanguard of a ‘revolution’ whose immediate political expression is the rejection of India and everything that India has come to represent in Kashmir.
Now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if you were told about the detentions of two officebearers of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association. You wouldn’t know, in all likelihood.
Mian Abdul Qayoom, the president of the association, and Ghulam Nabi Shaheen, its general secretary, have been detained under the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) since July 7 and July 18 respectively. The vaguely formulated PSA allows for detentions of up to two years without charge or trial on the presumption that future acts harmful to the state may be committed.
The grounds of detention prepared by the Srinagar district magistrate relating to Mian Qayoom allege that he is attempting to turn the Bar Association into "a secessionist outfit" indulging in “illegal activities.” Now don’t you “hmmm” since the official grounds of detention against Mian Qayoom state that he is being detained for questioning the conduct of government security forces and for his political views. Ghulam Nabi Shaheen is being detained on similar grounds as well as for organising public rallies seeking the release of Mian Qayoom.
If you had kept track of developments in the Kashmir Valley, you would agree with Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International, who asserts, “"The state administration has resorted to preventive detention under the PSA, which subverts the judicial process. If the government has criminal charges to bring, it should do so in a properly constituted criminal trial where Mian Qayoom will have the protections afforded under the law, for instance, the ability to post bail. The arbitrary use of the PSA to detain government critics is yet another demonstration of why this law must be repealed.”
Even I might be detained for writing this, and you for reading. These days you never know what constitutes “public safety”.
PS:
- Follow this link for stone-pelting coverage
When you read the items, do so between the lines. - You must read this article about stone-pelters:
It’s quite possible you don’t follow 'Rising Kashmir'. - Follow this link for the Amnesty press release coverage about the two lawyers.
You will not fail to notice that so few news outlets in mainland India covered the item.
