Let’s say one day something bad happens to you. It could be anything. Let’s also assume that you’re in considerable pain. It won’t help in anyway, but I think it’s just part of the human psyche to desire attention in effect of the injury/ailment. Wouldn’t it make you feel better to know that everyone in the house knows something bad has happened to you, and in so knowing, they could even help you in some way? Suggest a remedy or just say kind words to you. Fuss over you a bit, go the extra mile to keep you feel more comfortable.
On the other hand, how would you feel that you are hurt and no one even notices? Wouldn’t it denote that no one actually cares? They talk about so many things, but they never include your suffering as a topic of discussion. Maybe there were some in your house who even wanted and could’ve helped you out. But the knowledge of your pains was kept a secret. People from outside came to comfort you, and still your own people looked the other way as you endured your misery. They did care once—but you’re just too old to garner any interest now.
This was a very crude example of Kashmir and the Pakistani media. Believe me I know! But just for the sake of getting the point across as simply as I could, wouldn’t you agree that the second scenario would cut you very deeply? The people of Kashmir—our fellow Pakistanis, united by a common nationality, ideology, faith, geography. We don’t know, and aren’t being told by our media, about all that is happening there. It’s not that the news isn’t available. But when you compare the number of news items available on the net, and the number that make their way to the front pages of the top newspapers or claim the headlines in leading news shows—of exclusive Pakistani origin—then the number falls short. Why is that?
I was surprised to read reports in a Sikh newspaper, sikhsiyasat.net in support of the Kashmiris plight and derogating the Indian military for its brutality. It stated that the Indian state was suffering from ‘arrogance of power’, along with reporting many of the recent killings of Kashmiri youth. In a statement party head Harchranjit Singh of Dal Khalsa (socio-religio-political organization of the Sikh nation) said “the Indian security establishment was treating Kashmiris virtually as enemies, like it treated Sikhs in late 80’s and early 90’s in Punjab.” The newspaper publishes regular news updates about what is ongoing in Kashmir and is decidedly in favour of the independence movement.
As Dal Khalsa’s statement suggests, their stance stems from the bond of a common aggressor. They have been subjugated by the same authorities, and watching the Kashmiris undergoing a similar fate strikes a powerful chord. What impression does this leave of our media? Haven’t we faced the same atrocities in bygone times? At the hands of the same forces? Why do we jump to proclaim ‘Kashmir hamara hai’ and ‘Kashmir musalmano ki sarzameen hai’? Are we truly that pompous? We jump to defend our right over a land without paying heed to what is actually going on there? Peace talks and conferences and bilateral emissaries sallying around on either end, but without the explicit knowledge of what Kashmir has become?
Why is our media quiet over Kashmir? And when I say media, I’m talking about the big-shots out there. Kashmir is an issue for small online editions and regional dailies and blogs. Why not the mainstream broadsheets? They put forth opinions in editorials and decry fruitless efforts, but why don’t they report the hard core truth about what is actually happening there. If Kashmir is truly a part of Pakistan, then shouldn’t it deserve equal attention as the other parts? If we say that Kashmiris are being maltreated by the people across the border, does our ignorance of their state and the resulting indifference make us deserve them any better?
The BBC’s Chris Morris in Delhi says the Indian government was slow to realize how volatile the situation had become. He says the result is that Kashmir has reached a very dangerous point – more divided along communal lines than it has been for years. What do any of our leading news media have to say about the Kashmir issue?
We were discussing the Kashmir issue in class a few months ago, and the subject was broached, that why do we really want Kashmir. I think it is just because of the water sources. There isn’t that bond of affinity anymore. We don’t care, for WHO is in Kashmir, we care for WHAT is in Kashmir. I mean if we truly wanted something to happen, why has nothing happened after so very very long? If Quaid-e-Azam had stayed alive just a bit longer, Kashmir would have been a proud province of the Pakistani territory—that is an undisputed fact. Of course no one can possibly parallel him, but is it just because of lack of leadership? No! Lack of interest, lack of motivation. Heck, it took less time to create an entire new country than it has taken to resolve this land dispute. If we don’t particularly care, why would we be running headlines on their plight?
It is sad that foreign news media have a separate section titled Voices of Kashmir but we don’t have any in Pakistan. Why does our media gloss out the reality, is it seeking to pretend any of it isn’t actually happening? Or is it being forced to keep quiet?
Journalists have had their curfew passes torn to pieces and disallowed to carry on with their duties by the control men in Jammu and Kashmir. There are incidents of police high-handedness towards the media during the recent unrest in the Valley, but if journalists of other nations continue to take such a strong interest and regularly keep their audiences updated about Kashmir, why is our media sitting on the side-benches?
Is India not letting the true picture to come out? But if that’s what is happening, then how come people in other parts of the globe have caught on to it? Besides, Kashmir has a plentiful supply of online newspapers that cover each incident and development that takes place (Kashmir Times, Daily Excelsior,Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Watch, Kashmir Global to name a few). It is time that our media lent its voice for the cause of Kashmir and prove that we truly deserve them. We have to be the nation that the Quaid wanted us to be.
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