Kashmir | News & Discussions.

[Abu Zolfiqar]

well, whatever helps them get some shut-eye!

 

[Contrarian]

as will that of the occupied Kashmiris' as is clearly evident!


been following the news lately?

I think your missing the trend. Either ways, believe it if it satisfies you.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

I think your missing the trend.

oh??

Either ways, believe it if it satisfies you.

this isn't about me or my 'satisfaction'

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Viewpoint: 'Killing the Truth' in Kashmir​

Local journalists have been beaten and prevented from covering recent unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir. More than 100 people have died since June during clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in some of the bloodiest scenes the disputed state has seen in years.

Sajjad Haider, editor of The Kashmir Observer in Srinagar, describes what it is like for journalists trying to cover the deaths of members of their own community while under curfew.

A local journalist working for the BBC recently had to get his pink-coloured curfew pass, specially designed for the press, replaced with one meant for those attending marriage ceremonies in order to reach me at my home in curfew-bound central Srinagar.

A considerate police officer had told him that this was the best option if he wanted to escape the wrath of the security personnel enforcing the curfew on the streets.

The treatment of local reporters by the authorities is in contrast to that received by visiting correspondents.

They have come to be known locally as "embedded journalists" and are accorded full assistance by the state government to move around freely in Kashmir.

Local journalists covering the unrest - and living amid it - were banned from moving around during the curfew while permit cards issued to them were cancelled.

The Kashmir Press Association recently said this amounted to an "unwritten ban" on local media outlets and accused the government of adopting a discriminatory attitude.

"Scores of local journalists have been thrashed while discharging their professional duties," it said.

Not long after, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to apologise when a well-known local journalist was beaten by police. An investigation was announced - but regrets and promises of probes are not new for Kashmir.

The fact is the situation for the media has not changed a bit here.

Freedom Calls

For me, journalists working for local newspapers are exceptional individuals operating in exceptional circumstances - without any safeguards and guarantees either from their respective organisations or from the state.

Calls for "Azadi" (freedom) probably ring in the ears of Kashmiri journalists even when they are asleep.

On 11 June, mass civilian protests erupted in Srinagar when a 17-year-old boy died after being hit on the head by a police tear gas canister in the congested old part of the city. A month later, local journalists joined the calls for freedom, demanding their own liberation.

Killings had happened before, but why the outcry this time? Actually, on 11 June there was not one death, but two.

After the boy died, police sought to put the blame on those who had tried to rush him to hospital to save his life. The police killed the boy first - and then killed the truth.

The real catalyst of the current uprising in Kashmir is not so much the first killing as the second. Undoubtedly, the present situation is a continuation of events that have afflicted the region for the past 20 years.

All it needed was a spark. It is a bid to break free of the suffocation in which people find themselves here. The haunting question is how much the Kashmiri media have lived up to the expectations of their people.

The bitter reality is that, while it may have progressed over the last 20 years, it has not become completely free.

The absence of private businesses in Kashmir, the dependence on government advertisements, the government's monopoly on the flow of information and the fear of reprisals are all factors which have prohibited the growth of a fully free media.

So local reports are sometimes constrained to give space to propaganda alongside the facts.

For example, on 24 September the Jammu and Kashmir police rejected media reports that 2,000 people had been injured in police and paramilitary action during 105 days of unrest.

Questioning the figures, a spokesperson for the police said that only 504 civilians had been injured. But according to him, the number of police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel injured was nearly 4,000.

However, according to the register of one single hospital in Srinagar (the SK Institute of Medical Sciences), 599 civilians with firearms injuries had been admitted during this period.

There are dozens of other hospitals treating the injured in the rest of Kashmir.

'Let down'

Curfews have made moving around freely impossible In Kashmir today there are about 25 news channels available - but not one of them is Kashmiri.

The local media are limited either to newspapers or to a handful of cable channels.

As if that was not enough, the government appears terrified of what remains of their freedom.

Curfew passes were issued to accredited journalists only, as local authorities do not recognise the non-accredited journalists who form the bulk of the journalist population here. The tough accreditation rules they have formulated make it virtually impossible for local newspaper reporters.

How can newspapers be circulated when there are severe restrictions on public movement?

The problems are not all to do with government curbs - Srinagar-based newspapers have had to suspend publication at times because of a lack of advisements as well.

The reality is that newspapers, which heavily rely on the revenue from government advertisements, are facing huge losses and many publications have had to lay off staff.

Many newspapers are on the brink of closure as the separatist strikes coupled with government curfews have closed whatever little private advertisement flow was coming their way.

It makes it all the harder to meet the expectations of a people who feel let down by their own media.

BBC News - Viewpoint: 'Killing the truth' in Kashmir

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Viewpoint: 'Killing the Truth' in Kashmir​

Local journalists have been beaten and prevented from covering recent unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir. More than 100 people have died since June during clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in some of the bloodiest scenes the disputed state has seen in years.

Sajjad Haider, editor of The Kashmir Observer in Srinagar, describes what it is like for journalists trying to cover the deaths of members of their own community while under curfew.

A local journalist working for the BBC recently had to get his pink-coloured curfew pass, specially designed for the press, replaced with one meant for those attending marriage ceremonies in order to reach me at my home in curfew-bound central Srinagar.

A considerate police officer had told him that this was the best option if he wanted to escape the wrath of the security personnel enforcing the curfew on the streets.

The treatment of local reporters by the authorities is in contrast to that received by visiting correspondents.

They have come to be known locally as "embedded journalists" and are accorded full assistance by the state government to move around freely in Kashmir.

Local journalists covering the unrest - and living amid it - were banned from moving around during the curfew while permit cards issued to them were cancelled.

The Kashmir Press Association recently said this amounted to an "unwritten ban" on local media outlets and accused the government of adopting a discriminatory attitude.

"Scores of local journalists have been thrashed while discharging their professional duties," it said.

Not long after, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had to apologise when a well-known local journalist was beaten by police. An investigation was announced - but regrets and promises of probes are not new for Kashmir.

The fact is the situation for the media has not changed a bit here.

Freedom Calls

For me, journalists working for local newspapers are exceptional individuals operating in exceptional circumstances - without any safeguards and guarantees either from their respective organisations or from the state.

Calls for "Azadi" (freedom) probably ring in the ears of Kashmiri journalists even when they are asleep.

On 11 June, mass civilian protests erupted in Srinagar when a 17-year-old boy died after being hit on the head by a police tear gas canister in the congested old part of the city. A month later, local journalists joined the calls for freedom, demanding their own liberation.

Killings had happened before, but why the outcry this time? Actually, on 11 June there was not one death, but two.

After the boy died, police sought to put the blame on those who had tried to rush him to hospital to save his life. The police killed the boy first - and then killed the truth.

The real catalyst of the current uprising in Kashmir is not so much the first killing as the second. Undoubtedly, the present situation is a continuation of events that have afflicted the region for the past 20 years.

All it needed was a spark. It is a bid to break free of the suffocation in which people find themselves here. The haunting question is how much the Kashmiri media have lived up to the expectations of their people.

The bitter reality is that, while it may have progressed over the last 20 years, it has not become completely free.

The absence of private businesses in Kashmir, the dependence on government advertisements, the government's monopoly on the flow of information and the fear of reprisals are all factors which have prohibited the growth of a fully free media.

So local reports are sometimes constrained to give space to propaganda alongside the facts.

For example, on 24 September the Jammu and Kashmir police rejected media reports that 2,000 people had been injured in police and paramilitary action during 105 days of unrest.

Questioning the figures, a spokesperson for the police said that only 504 civilians had been injured. But according to him, the number of police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel injured was nearly 4,000.

However, according to the register of one single hospital in Srinagar (the SK Institute of Medical Sciences), 599 civilians with firearms injuries had been admitted during this period.

There are dozens of other hospitals treating the injured in the rest of Kashmir.

'Let down'

Curfews have made moving around freely impossible In Kashmir today there are about 25 news channels available - but not one of them is Kashmiri.

The local media are limited either to newspapers or to a handful of cable channels.

As if that was not enough, the government appears terrified of what remains of their freedom.

Curfew passes were issued to accredited journalists only, as local authorities do not recognise the non-accredited journalists who form the bulk of the journalist population here. The tough accreditation rules they have formulated make it virtually impossible for local newspaper reporters.

How can newspapers be circulated when there are severe restrictions on public movement?

The problems are not all to do with government curbs - Srinagar-based newspapers have had to suspend publication at times because of a lack of advisements as well.

The reality is that newspapers, which heavily rely on the revenue from government advertisements, are facing huge losses and many publications have had to lay off staff.

Many newspapers are on the brink of closure as the separatist strikes coupled with government curfews have closed whatever little private advertisement flow was coming their way.

It makes it all the harder to meet the expectations of a people who feel let down by their own media.

BBC News - Viewpoint: 'Killing the truth' in Kashmir

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

well its upto kashmiris and not bharatis

the people sitting in new delhi are to this day still in denial.....

they know that a referendum would not be in their favour NOT because of the so-called "conditions for plebisite" which the hindustanys here will bring up desperately from time to time


reason is simple --- anti-indian sentiment runs extremely high in the (Muslim majority) Kashmir region. That is a FACT, even western media acknowledges this reality.

 

[foxbat]

the people sitting in new delhi are to this day still in denial.....

they know that a referendum would not be in their favour NOT because of the so-called "conditions for plebisite" which the hindustanys here will bring up desperately from time to time


reason is simple --- anti-indian sentiment runs extremely high in the (Muslim majority) Kashmir region. That is a FACT, even western media acknowledges this reality.

If anti national sentiment at a given point in time was an indicator for a country to give up a part of its territory, then Pakistan would have given up Sindh, Balochistan and a large part of NWFP over last 60 years

Countries dont work that way, no matter how much the internet warriors would want them to.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

If anti national sentiment at a given point in time was an indicator for a country to give up a part of its territory, then Pakistan would have given up Sindh, Balochistan and a large part of NWFP over last 60 years

Countries dont work that way, no matter how much the internet warriors would want them to.

the very reply I anticipated!

So typical of you (and people of your mindset) to bring up integral Provinces of Pakistan in a discussion that is encompassing (internationally recognized) disputed territory

it has become a bad habit....

I don't see draconian laws being exercized in any of those NON-DISPUTED areas anyways; I dont see curfews, suppression of media or suppression of dissent. Social issues do exist which need to be corrected --same goes for 1/3 of india (AKA the red corridor; along with other issues in northeast)


Kashmir is a whole other picture. We are seeing the grim realities everyday, despite media blackouts, censorship and intimidation tactics by the occupational forces (sissies)

 

[karan.1970]

the very reply I anticipated!

So typical of you (and people of your mindset) to bring up integral Provinces of Pakistan in a discussion that is encompassing (internationally recognized) disputed territory

it has become a bad habit....

I don't see draconian laws being exercized in any of those NON-DISPUTED areas anyways; I dont see curfews, suppression of media or suppression of dissent. Social issues do exist which need to be corrected --same goes for 1/3 of india (AKA the red corridor; along with other issues in northeast)


Kashmir is a whole other picture. We are seeing the grim realities everyday, despite media blackouts, censorship and intimidation tactics by the occupational forces (sissies)

1. The UN today asks for India and Pakistan to solve Kashmir issue bilaterally. Its only Pakistan thats floggin the dead horse of a 1948 resolution.. Keep doing that. Loads of good it has done to Pakistan in 1971, 1984 and now
2. Look up the EU parliaments report on Kashmir - both sides and you will know where there are more draconian laws and media blackouts.
3. About sissies, going by the outcomes of the confrontations between India and Pakistan, guess Pakistan armed forces can easily claim the title of Super Sissies then.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

1. The UN today asks for India and Pakistan to solve Kashmir issue bilaterally

and hindustan seems to state that there is no room for negotiation; Kashmiris however are not of that view, and they are the people of the Disputed Territory.

it only seems to be you people who are at loggerheads and odds with not only the Pakistanis, but the Kashmiris themselves (hence all the unrest and anti-indian sentiment, which seems to have no end in sight)

Its only Pakistan thats floggin the dead horse of a 1948 resolution.. Keep doing that. Loads of good it has done to Pakistan in 1971, 1984 and now

and india flogs the dead horse everyday when it brings up so-called "militancy" and "ISI support for anti-state elements" when even the KASHMIRIS themselves angrily assert that it is a purely local resistance that receives little to no support from outsiders

I think i'll take the word of a Kashmiri over a few loosely worded, unproven statements by hindustany officials....thank you very much

2. Look up the EU parliaments report on Kashmir - both sides and you will know where there are more draconian laws and media blackouts.

and you should look at the news!

here's one for ya


BBC News - Viewpoint: 'Killing the truth' in Kashmir

3. About sissies, going by the outcomes of the confrontations between India and Pakistan, guess Pakistan armed forces can easily claim the title of Super Sissies then.

interesting, considering the fact that the latter fought an enemy many times its size and held its ground quite well despite numbers and odds against it

whether in the air or on the ground.


hardly constitutes "sissiness" except only to the logic-devoid

 

[karan.1970]

and hindustan seems to state that there is no room for negotiation; Kashmiris however are not of that view, and they are the people of the Disputed Territory.

it only seems to be you people who are at loggerheads and odds with not only the Pakistanis, but the Kashmiris themselves (hence all the unrest and anti-indian sentiment, which seems to have no end in sight)

There is no room for negotiation around redrawing of boundaries. And Kashmiris are not a different nationality you know. They still carry the Indian Voter card and Passport. So our situation with Pakistanis (an international relation) is different to the one with Kashmiris(an internal issue). The odds were much worse in Punjab and Assam.

and india flogs the dead horse everyday when it brings up so-called "militancy" and "ISI support for anti-state elements" when even the KASHMIRIS themselves angrily assert that it is a purely local resistance that receives little to no support from outsiders

Smart mixing up of a 20 year old Pakistani sponsored insurgency and terrorism in India with a recent spate of protests (last 4 months). While the 2nd may well be a local phenomena, the 1st is surely is in line with Pakistan's decades old strategy of using non state actors in promoting insurgency (aka Afghanistan and Kashmir) in foreign countries

and you should look at the news!

here's one for ya


BBC News - Viewpoint: 'Killing the truth' in Kashmir

Again, hiding behind the recent protests in Kashmir.. Doesnt take away the realities of so called Azad Kashmir and the northern areas.. Does it? lol?

interesting, considering the fact that the latter fought an enemy many times its size and held its ground quite well despite numbers and odds against it

whether in the air or on the ground.


hardly constitutes "sissiness" except only to the logic-devoid

If the larger enemy was composed of sissies, then the size shouldnt matter .. should it??

what does that tell you?? While its a different discussion if PA held its ground or not, considering Bangladesh and Siachen, that horse has been flogged to death as well...

 

[KS]

If the larger enemy was composed of sissies, then the size shouldnt matter .. should it??

what does that tell you?? While its a different discussion if PA held its ground or not, considering Bangladesh and Siachen, that horse has been flogged to death as well...

 

[Omar1984]

Omar just a Pakistan puppet: Yuva Morcha



Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha national president Anurag Thakur said Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible to a great extent for the Kashmir problem. The youth leader said the problem magnified when he took the matter to the UNO in 1948 and made it international.


Thakhur, along with MP Navjot Singh Sidhu had come to Ludhiana to start off the ‘India first campaign’ to save J&K. Both were addressing a mega rally at Janakpuri market and apart from targeting the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, they also called J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah a puppet in the hands of Pakistan.


Sidhu said,” Omar had raised a slogan in Parliament once that he is an Indian and Kashmir is a part of India and today his activities are favouring more Pakistan. In Lal Chowk even today flag of Pakistan is being hoisted.” Thakur said, “The aim of the campaign is to awaken the masses and specially the youth to rise and think about Jammu and Kashmir which is their own. We all will go in large numbers to hoist flag of India at Lal Chowk. In addition to this if J&K government will do any activity to decrease the powers of Army, we will oppose it in a massive way.”


The leaders raised the old slogan.....”doodh mangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir mangoge to cheer denge”. They also criticised the role of Mehbooba Mufti, president of People’s Democratic Party(PDP). The campaign will be taken in the other parts of the country as well so as to mobilise the youth about the J&K problem, said Thakur.



Omar just a Pakistan puppet: Yuva Morcha

 

[Spring Onion]

hahahah hoisting Indian flag by BJP invaders in Lal Chowk is one thing and hoisting Pakistani flag by ordinary Kashmiris in Lal Chowk braving Indian guns is totally another

 

[KS]

Poor Omar - called Indian puppet by pakistanis and Pakistan Puppet by BJP.