As parts of Kashmir valley were flooded and the entire valley remained literally cut off from the rest of the world not only because the Jammu-Srinagar highway remained blocked for about two weeks, but also because the phone network, both landline and mobile phone broke down. There was a complete telecommunication blackout for the first week following these floods. Towards the end of the first week, though phones started working in some areas and with each passing day, more areas are coming under telecom coverage, but the networks still remain patchy. Given this blackout and complete lack of information coming out from the valley, people started tuning into the Indian TV news channels to know the latest from the valley. But what one saw on these channels by way of coverage of floods in the valley, was truly repulsive and abominable. All TV channels used the limited rescue work by the Army as act of benevolence to the thankless Kashmiris. The devastation of floods and providing news about it was not the focus of the news. It was only used to whip up nationalist sentiment and build up jingoism. In most cases the coverage was vulgar and many news anchors and analysts on their panel discussions even went to the extent of suggesting that Kashmiris should forget the atrocities committed by Indian security forces in the last two decades owing to the rescue operations that the Indian Army carried out. It was heartening to see that no Army officers became a part of this obscene discourse, though many TV reporters and anchors prodded them to come up with sound bites.
It would be in place here to mention that the Army undertakes rescue operations in any place when the civil administration requests them to, since the Army has more resources and is more equipped to deal with such calamities. Kashmir was no exception to this rule. The Army was pressed into service in Utarakhand when floods hit the State last year. Why should Kashmiris be made to feel grateful to the Army for their rescue operations? Indian TV medias complete lack of empathy with the flood victims was evident when some reporters and anchors even thrust a mike into a survivors face asking her whether she feels grateful to the army for having rescued her. Thankfully, there were reporters from foreign and even Indian print media who tried to report sensibly and with balance. Kashmiris used the social media also to dispel the myths that Indian TV news reporters and anchors tried to create about Kashmiris.
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