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| Media-bridge over the Pir Panjal | | | KG Suresh
Without becoming pampheteers for the seperatists' azaadi call, the Delhi-based media needs to be more sensitive in its coverage of Kashmir, or else the ever-widening communication gap will consume all prospects for peace
When nationally
celebrated
young IAS officer Shah Faesal asked a group of young Kashmiris how many of them wanted to be like former Pakistan military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, not one hand was raised. He was addressing a round table on Right to Information and participatory democracy, organised by a German NGO and others in Srinagar recently.
Most of the young participants were concerned over corruption, quality of education, condition of roads etc. Participants from Srinagar's downtown, notorious for stone pelting incidents and projected as the hub of separatists, were seeking more developmental activities including smart classes in their area. Few kilometres away, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre, the picture was in total contrast. Separatists, backed by some students from media schools in the Valley, were heckling senior journalists from other parts of the country who were defending the unity of India at the media summit in Srinagar organised by a local NGO, Lehar. Among the targets were veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, who stated that any resolution to the Kashmir problem has to be within India, and also academic Madhu Kishwar, who told the hecklers not to expect media in the rest of India to be "pampheleteers for (their) azaadi call". President of the Press Club of India Rahul Jalali too faced the wrath of the aggressive sections when he questioned the source of funding of many of the media houses in the Valley. Some speakers were constantly interrupted by activists, some of them from the Chambers of Commerce, taking over the podium and delivering sermons. More on rhetoric and less on substance, the references of these hecklers were replete with wild charges against the Indian Army and Government. One critic even dismissed the Army's goodwill operation as "violence of compassion". Most of the arguments put forward were emotional, one-sided and motivated. The critics slammed the Indian media for not covering rape cases adequately and ignoring the participation of thousands in the funeral procession of a militant while conveniently not mentioning the massive response to the Indian Army's recruitment drive in the Valley, forcing the police to resort to a lathi charge. What was more disturbing was the manner in which some representatives from the national media, particularly from the minority community, joined ranks with the hecklers in highlighting the atrocities on Indian Muslims, including riots and denial of houses in Mumbai, in the process strengthening the separatists' argument that Indian secularism was a façade and Hindu majoritarianism made it impossible for minorities to remain secure in the country. The saner elements from the rest of the country did make a futile attempt to project the correct picture saying if the hoisting of Islamic State flags by a handful of youth in the valley did not reflect that all Kashmiris were militants, similarly the denial of flats to a handful of Muslims in Mumbai, for reasons including a stress on vegetarianism, did not reflect the true picture of how the minority community was treated in India.
They also unmasked the plebiscite argument saying it envisaged the holding of such a referendum in the whole of Jammu & Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied territories after total demilitarisation on both parts, and that much water has flowed down the Jhelum after the UN resolution including successful polls which witnessed mass participation. The sad part was that most of the participants including students, mainly girls, who had come for some healthy interaction with the senior journalists from Delhi were silenced by the hardliners. They were either forced to beat a hasty retreat from the venue or keep quiet.
The forum which could have facilitated an exchange of ideas between journalists from the State and Delhi but was hijacked by separatists who had little to do with media. In fact, some of the journalists from Delhi clarified that they neither represented the Army or the Government, had come to study the issues, and that media in other parts of the country too had many grievances of neglect against the so-called Delhi-centric national media and the issues it raised. There were atrocities in the rest of the country as well which weren't adequately covered by the national media. But in the absence of reason and objectivity, chaos prevailed.
Nevertheless, there were takeaways from both conferences. First, there is a growing sense of alienation among the Kashmiri youth. Second, having failed to push their cause through stone-pelting and militancy, the new strategy is to capture the minds and hearts of the intelligentsia through illogical yet emotional arguments. Third, Kashmiri youth have career and lifestyle aspirations beyond the rhetoric of azaadi. Fourth, the ever-widening communication gap has to be bridged across the Pir Panjal and national media has to be more sensitive in its treatment of the Valley.
(Courtesy@daily Pioneer.com) |
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