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| National media completely blacks out historic Jammu bandh | | Why blame national political leadership? | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 28: Jammu observed a second massive bandh on Wednesday in less than five weeks. Both were unique, as the people cutting across party lines, supported both the bandhs. Both the bandhs rattled not only the state government but also the BJP, which has been in power in the state since March 1 because of the Jammu's conditional support -- conditional because they had voted for the BJP for empowerment, integration and elimination of all secessionist tendencies in the Valley and not for their enslavement and perpetuation of the Kashmiri hegemony over everything both in Kashmir as well as Jammu province.
The bandh the people observed on Wednesday was historic because it coincided with the visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Jammu, as also because the Home Minister saw with his own eyes the nature and magnitude of the bandh. The bandh must have alarmed him and through him the anti-Jammu BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre. After all, Jammu used to be the BJP's stronghold and trusted and tested constituency.
The local media, including the Valley-centric Srinagar-based media, reported the event in the manner it was required. It deserves appreciation. Ironically, national media, both print and electronic, blacked out completely the great event, thus establishing that when it comes to Jammu and Jammu's plight, it, like the Indian political class, pays little or scant attention.
No leading national daily gave any coverage to the Jammu bandh which was unprecedented by any yardstick. Only two papers touched the issue but dismissed the event in two-three lines. One national daily, instead of highlighting the significance of the Jammu bandh, batted for AIIMS for Kashmir. It editorially said: "If the new coalition is to succeed, it must break out of these set patterns. In the current dispute, by all accounts, the BJP has taken up cudgels for 'marginalized' (not correct. The fact is otherwise) in Jammu, while PDP MPs aggressively demand a separate IIT and IIM for the Valley. But a coalition invested in providing better governance must prioritize other considerations. The AIIMS question could be settled through a need-based approach. Inaccessible areas in the Valley, for instance, would benefit from medical services that a new AIIMS would provide, while new institutions of higher education could transform underdeveloped areas of Jammu. In days to come, the J&K government must handle this dispute with care. What it decides now could set the tone for the rest of its tenure". It is obvious that the editorial writer was not aware of the geography of Jammu & Kashmir. It is Jammu whose area is two-time more that of Kashmir bulk of which is highly difficult, treacherous and inaccessible.
As for the national news channels whose local correspondents did cover the event, they also blacked it out, obviously, under pressure from someone influential in the BJP-led NDA Government who didn't want the nation to know what happened in Jammu province. Had this event occurred in Kashmir over a non-issue or a divisive issue, the news channels would have highlighted it 24x7 and held debates. They have time and space for separatists like Yasin Malik and other terrorists, but they do not consider nationalist and suffering Jammu - which is a land of refugees -- worthy of any coverage.
But this was not the first occasion when the national media gave a shabby treatment to the genuinely democratic and people and nation-centric events in Jammu. It did it in 1998, when the people launched a very successful movement against Farooq Abdullah government's policy governing admission to technical and professional institutions. Despite the negative attitude of Valley-centric national media, Jammu won the agitation hands down. The people of Jammu in 1998 had observed 17-day-long continues bandh and virtually brought the Abdullah government to their knees. It was only towards the last days of the agitation that national media turned its attention towards it and that was its compulsion.
During the historic Amarnath land movement in Jammu in 2008, the national media also adopted a negative attitude. It was again a very successful movement that resulted in the fall of the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led ragtag coalition government. The national media turned its attention to the agitation in Jammu again towards the last days of the movement. Jammu remained bandh for almost two months.
So, why blame only Indian political class? The national media is no different. But it hardly matters. The people of Jammu province know how to achieve their goal even if the hostile attitude of national leadership and national media is hostile or biased. There is no doubt that the people of Jammu province would get AIIMS sooner than later and defeat those who said the artificial lake project over Tawi was technically and economically not viable and that it could be shelved because of these two factors. Of course, national media would turn to Jammu as the movement gains more momentum in the coming days. |
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