Author: Aakash Hassan
Affiliation: Freelance Journalist (Based in Kashmir)
Organization/Publisher: Coda Story
Date/Place: November 23, 2021/Kashmir
Type of Literature: Reportage
Word Count: 2300
Link: https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/kashmir-vanishing-newspaper/
Keywords: Kashmir, Conflict, India, Occupation, Resistance, Pakistan, Media, Archives, Narrative, Newspapers
Brief:
In the turbulent years that Kashmir saw particularly in the late 1980s, documentation of India’s war crimes and crimes against humanity have been critical in the long struggle for the UN-promised plebiscite to decide the political fate of the disputed region, illegally occupied by India. Now, this documentation is being forcibly deleted from online archives. These details as reported by the author based in Indian-occupied Kashmir explains how memories of years is being taken away under the order from New Delhi. After years of armed resistance against Indian rule and its occupying forces, Kashmir saw unprecedented civilian uprising against illegal Indian rule. Since 2008, close to 500 civilians have been murdered by the Indian regime in Kashmir in addition to hundreds of armed rebels, mostly in Indian-orchestrated fake encounters. Kashmir-based media, especially daily English-language newspapers, have been a major source of recording such crimes by the Indian state and its forces in the UN-designated disputed territory, home to around 12 million people. This reportage exposes how publishers and promoters of these publications are being forced to take down the work done by Kashmiri journalists who are facing unprecedented times at the hands of the Indian regime – led by the fascist RSS-owned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Soon after hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris came out on the streets demanding their right to self-determination following the martyrdom of popular rebel commander Burhan Wani on July 08, the BJP government formulated the policy of “kill the Kashmir and the story.” A report submitted by India’s interior (home) ministry to the government suggested a three-pronged strategy to kill international attention for Kashmir: Manage 3 Ms – Media, Masjid and Madrassa. The Indian fascist regime appears to be working to achieve all three prongs as of now – educational institutions have mostly remained shut since 2016; Kashmir’s historic Jamia Masjid is closed for obligatory congregational prayers on Fridays while local management of Mosques are strictly prohibited from delivering any sermon of political nature. And media is being managed by threatening reporters, publishers, and killing the story from uploading on Google for global search and attention.
By: Riyaz ul Khaliq, CIGA Non-Resident Research Associate
