Held Kashmir and bubble of positivity

There is certainly a need to bring the true situation in held Kashmir before the world. But not the kind of rosy picture based on lies and exaggeration the Indian political leaders and establishment aim for.

The chief minister of held Kashmir is a politician who lives in a self-built castle of peace whose windows do not show the blood flowing from the bodies of innocent Kashmiris or the regular violence on the streets, the four walls of her castle protecting her from harsh realities.

Thus, Mehbooba Mufti recently advised the Indian press that it needed to "ensure correct and contextual portrayal of happenings in Jammu and Kashmir, and abstain from debates and reportage which were far from reality."

According to reports in the Indian media, in an interaction with a visiting Press Council of India team here, Mufti alleged, “A section of the country’s media has been indulging in debates, discussions and reportage about the state and its people, most of which is far from reality. This section needs to be reminded that by resorting to this diatribe about the state, they are not doing any service to the country but further alienating the people of the state.”

The chief minister told a PCI delegation that "the need of the hour was to focus on commonalities, reconciliation and healing the wounds where the media had a critical role to play. Positive reporting about the state and its people by the media outlets will not only create a soothing impact on the minds of people here, but also help the people of rest of the country in understanding Jammu and Kashmir and its people better.” 

One is amazed when one analyses Mufti's talk about positive reporting, commonalities and reconciliation. Is it not so that at least 150 people have been killed in the Valley, more than 12,000 injured, more than 1,000 have lost vision in one eye after being hit by pellets and many have been totally blinded in one year? What about tens of thousands of youth who have been arrested since July 2016 following the martyrdom of Burhan Wani, the young man who protested against the Indian hegemony and was therefore brutally gunned down by the Indian forces? 

Seema Sengupta, a noted Indian journalist, wrote a column for a Middle Eastern publication last year. She admitted in her column: “India as a nation should realize that the image of a gun-toting country ruthlessly violating citizens’ dignity does not bode well for any functional democracy, which is thriving as well. The nation need to ask its conscience as to why an independent republic requires the might of the military, which itself has committed grave human rights violations in addition to staging thousands of fake encounters over the past decades in areas declared disturbed, to police some citizens?” Was she not talking about held Kashmir? 

The fact is that the chief minister of Indian held Kashmir has no idea about the ground realities or she is totally confused. What is positive to report about the held Kashmir? Has the issue been diffused and all stakeholders engaged to bring about a permanent solution? The Kashmir problem is not going to go away till there is a fair solution to the liking of the majority of the people of the besieged valley.