Covering Kashmir

This refers to the letter 'When will the world wake up?' (Aug 6) by Malik Tariq Ali. The writer has aptly commented that the issue of Kashmir is an extremely bitter, bloody, and long-standing one whereas the relatively affluent Hong Kong’s issue is a recent and less-hostile one. The former is about occupation, suppression of human rights, human dignity, the freedom of speech and torture of about three million residents of Indian-occupied Kashmir whereas Hong Kong is one of the richest regions in the world with a populace of just about 7.30 million and the strife in this land has commenced just recently, with so far no reported deaths or serious injuries to its citizens.

One point to note is that the ‘international media’ is controlled by the West especially the US and its allies. Therefore, covering events 24/7 in Hong Kong makes sense to such organizations so that they can have a go or a jab at China whereas if they were to cover events 24/7 in Kashmir, it would definitely lead to discrediting the Indian BJP regime in the eyes of the global public. So apparently, there is a clear mission to pursue for the international media: discredit the Chinese (because China is not a member of the Western ideological order) whereas be prudent or forgiving towards the Indians for what they are doing in IOK (because India happens to be a close and emerging member of the US-led or dominated World Order). So it’s all an issue of self-centered hypocrisy and self-interests in today’s world. May God Almighty protect & preserve the rights of Kashmiris (as well as the Palestinians) and find a just way out for these oppressed nations from their long and bitter suffering and agony. If US President Trump can use his good offices to encourage both Pakistan and India to discuss this thorny issue in a meaningful way, such efforts will be welcomed by all sides.

Abbas R Siddiqi

Lahore