Thread by @Vidyut

Shehla Rashid explains why she decided to go public with the information that she is receiving from J&K. huffingtonpost.in/entry/shehla-r…

@godavar and I were discussing exactly this yesterday. Thread in support of @Shehla_Rashid

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid After all the tamasha about @Shehla_Rashid sharing "fake news" etc, many people messaged me to ask what I think.

I agree with her. And I have no effing idea whether the news was true or not. STILL I support her sharing it.

Reasons:

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 1. And biggest. What she says in that interview. If local media were functioning normally, she wouldn't have to rely on word of mouth news.

2. @Shehla_Rashid is not a journalist. She is a Kashmiri politician and probably the only notable one still out of jail. Different role.

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 3. In a country where mainstream media isn't arrested for fake news, them running shows and polls about whether she should be arrested isn't even worthy of mention.

4. We have the government lying on record about Kashmir. No consequence. Remember the "no protest happened"?

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 5. The stupidest person and the blindest bhakt ought to understand this much. If the Kashmiris were really happy about Modi's "masterstroke", BJP would be shoving mics in their faces and boosting their internet speeds, not doing a communication blackout.

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 6. Did the incident happen? We don't know. BUT, it deserves to be put on record so that it can be investigated. Whether now, or in the distant future when we have a real govt. EVEN if it is false. Targeting hate and knee jerk denials and ZERO independent investigation = FAIL

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 7. Does this mean we should believe it? I deliberated this too. I am waiting for *someone* trustworthy to dig into it after the noise it has generated. Whether true or false, the record needs to be clear, not wiped out.

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid 8. Lastly. Massive respect for @Shehla_Rashid standing literally alone right now as a Kashmiri politician. Tremendous pressure, entire fucking seas of trolls, hate, cunning "strategists" plotting how she can be targeted. She choses to do what she thinks she should. Does it.

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid The answer to Shehla's allegations is NOT an ignorant or malicious denial, but to allow methods of fact finding to exist, so that word of mouth does not have to be put on record without verification. Free the media. Allow independent enquiries.

@godavar @Shehla_Rashid And oh, even if this incident did not happen, there are a hundred others that did and have gone unreported. As the interview correctly points out, you can't just round up thousands of people, put them in jail, fly them out of country without any process without abuse of rights.