How National Media Is Betraying Our Trust

After the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016, the Indian government ordered a blackout of Kashmiri media outlets, newspapers and shut down internet services for three days to “maintain a sense of peace” in the state. Their justification for this shutdown was based on a preexisting notion that the local media would increase the unrest by ‘glorifying’ Wani, who was branded as a terrorist by the central government. 

Kashmiris were not given the right to express their views on Wani’s killing, whereas in the rest of the country, mainstream Indian outlets were allowed to cover his death as a major success for government forces. This instance is quintessential in understanding how the governments at the centre fuel one sided propagandist narrative in the country. If Sudhir Chaudhary and Arnab Goswami are given a platform to express gratification at Wani’s killing, why then are Kashmiri’s prohibited from sharing their sentiments on the same issue? 

Mainstream media outlets in India are known to be opinionated when it comes to discussing Kashmir. Their debates are popular in their country not for their journalistic standards and quality for discussion, but rather for being ultra nationalist and pro-government. Many editors have openly said they are “anti-separatist and anti-Pakistan.” This comes from a nationalist ideology, that Kashmir is by default a part of the Indian state, and must be protected form any Pakistani insurgency. It is the media’s rhetoric of how the region needs defending from an external threat, which mangles public perception into keeping almost half a million Indian military personnel in Kashmir. Communal disharmony is inevitable if such forces are present in the region without being entirely familiar with local history and social dynamics. 

Kashmiri business owners are perhaps the worst hit from the general negative reporting presented on mainstream Indian television channels. 2017 saw the lowest number of tourists visiting the picturesque Kashmir Valley, a number which dropped considerably after the 2016 unrest. A seizable section of the state’s population is in some way or another involved in the tourism industry, and the reducing number of visitors to the state are making it harder for the locals to make ends meet. 

Tariq Sheikh, a local houseboat owner, has seen his houseboats fail to reach full occupancy for the last seven years. “Business is struggling, and we don’t know why these news presenters have such a vile agenda against us. What have I done to them? Why are they making it harder for me to feed my children?” Tourism in the state was also affected, by the death of a Chennai youth visiting Srinagar, who died as a result of injury suffered during a stone pelting incident. The story was picked up by both Kashmiri and mainstream Indian news outlets. However, what was included on Indian news channels was the theory that this was not an isolated incident, but a deliberate attack on an Indian tourist. The report portrayed local population as if it was enraged at Indian tourists visiting Kashmir, and targeted visitors in a systematic attack to drive them away from the state. This theory is a direct contradiction of the sentiments expressed by people on the ground, who are entirely dependent on tourism for their livelihood. 

Kashmir newspapers have been operating despite tenuous internet services, frequent curfews and shutdowns and above all coercive tactics by the governments. What needs to be understood as a difference between Kashmiri and Indian news outlets, is that the local media in Kashmir has resources located in every district and far fetched areas in the state This relationship between Kashmiri newspapers and the locals is misrepresented by Indian news outlets, as journalism under the influence and pressures of militancy. It is thus convenient for the Delhi propagandists to label local news outlets as separatist mouthpieces, as part of their policy to subjugate the Kashmiri voice.  

Local media outlets in Kashmir have been operating despite tenuous internet services, frequent curfews and shutdowns and above all coercive tactics by the governments. What needs to be understood as a difference between Kashmiri and Indian news outlets, is that the local media in Kashmir has resources located in every district and far fetched areas in the state. It has a significantly greater understanding of the region and are aware of local sentiments. Mainstream Indian media outlets operate from newsrooms in New Delhi and Mumbai, and do not have the same level of discourse with the Kashmiri public. This relationship between Kashmiri newspapers and the locals is misrepresented by Indian news outlets, as journalism under the influence and pressures of militancy. Kashmiri papers are accused of being mouthpieces for local separatist leaders, and their credibility is constantly questioned by those who try to understand the Kashmir situation from afar. It is thus convenient for the Delhi propagandists to label local news outlets as separatist mouthpieces, as part of their policy to subjugate the Kashmiri voice.  

The vehemence portrayed towards Kashmir is also one of the largest contributing factors of the Kashmir issue. Such rhetoric is not only a gross misrepresentation of the reality in the state, but is also damaging to the future of its people. Ghulam Nabi Azad, an Indian politician has openly expressed in Parliament, how mainstream news outlets cause communal divide in Kashmir, and the rest of the country. “The only intention of these primetime channels in to pit Hindus and Muslims against each other.” Feeding distorted facts to Indian public 24×7 tantamount to betrayal of their trust and if it is not anti-national what is?

The gravest effect of such reporting was exemplified by Tariq Sheikh, who even though is reeling from the struggling tourism industry, is scared for the future of the country. “If someday India is divided piece by piece, it won’t be done by a religious leader, or a politician. It will be these news anchors, who are bent on spewing venom and dividing the country.”  

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