Seeing lot of anguished tweets about international media portals carrying Pakistani propaganda verbatim on Kashmir. This is nothing new and nothing to be anguished about. However it is important to understand why this is happening.
Pakistan is a terrorist state. They use terror as state policy and this is not hidden from anybody. Jaish, Hizbul, Lashkar, Harkat And many more are operating on Pakistani soil with impunity. Osama Bin Laden After 9/11 found refuge only in Pakistan.
Pakistan has threatened a 1000 year war against India. There is tons of evidence ( much of it unearthed by USA BTW) that Pakistan is arming and training insurgents in Kashmir valley. Their other neighbor, Afghanistan has repeatedly said Pakistan is sponsoring terror
Pakistan is a theocratic state and their treatment towards minorities is well known. The numbers of minorities are dwindling fast and one only needs to ask Hazaras, Ahmediyas and Shias. One is not even talking about Hindus and Christians who have been nearly wiped out
Pakistan’s commitment to democracy is for the world to see. Army controls the State and ‘selected’ politicians are just a mask. Do Western journalists not know all this? Of course they do. Then why does this not reflect in their coverage and writing.
Why has no Western journalist written that by removing Art 370, Indian State has given MORE rights to Kashmiris & not curtailed them. Why has no Western journalist written that India pours truckloads of money in Kashmir for development and local leadership promptly siphons it off
Why has no Western journalist written that despite siphoning off tons of money by local elected leaders, Kashmir valley is more developed than PoK. Why has no Western journalist traveled to PoK and Gilgit/Baltistan And looked at the condition of ordinary people there?
There is communication blockade. Sure. But is there any major shortage of food? If NYT and BBC feel cellphone is more important than loaf of bread then how can one treat their ‘first world problems’ ? There is no violence on the streets, GOI is committed to restoring normalcy
Communication clampdown is temporary to prevent violence, detention of elected leaders is temporary because they will needlessly cause trouble to stay relevant. Instead they can now think of how to reinvent themselves and their politics.
BTW, if these elected leaders are so popular then why are their supporters not on streets defying Indian authority? Instead local clashes that we see are more because people want phones to be restored and not for these discredited leaders.
Why has no Western journalist traveled to Ladakh or Jammu? Why has no Western journalist spoken to those whose lives were destroyed by abomination called Article 370? Or to minorities that were driven away from the valley.
The answer is simple - Western Media is hinduphobic And are blatantly displaying their hinduphobia in their writing. Somehow word of Islamist terror state is more credible than the voice of vibrant democracy that is committed to the welfare of all its citizens.
Every time you see agenda laden commentary of Western media, ask them this : What was the percentage of minorities in both countries in 1947 and what is the percentage now? If they answer that question truthfully then we can talk further.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
What Udhayanidhi Stalin said is a call for Genocide. It is not covered by free speech. When you ask for ‘eradication’ of a certain kind of people you are calling for genocide. Remember what point b of Article 3 of UN convention says - Conspiracy to commit genocide is also punishable under genocide convention. #UdhayanidhiStalin
Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of Genocide start with classification, symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, persecution, and extermination and them denial. Having fulfilled all stages until persecution,Udhyanidhi Stalin has now called for extermination. ERADICATION means root and branch massacre. Root and branch massacre is Genocide. #UdhayanidhiStalin
In genocide studies, dehumanization is a preparatory step on the path to genocide. The perpetrator’s propaganda explicitly likens victims to animals.Nazis referred to Jews as rats and vermin. Hutu extremists who organized the Rwandan genocide called Tutsi cockroaches and snakes. Udhayanidhi Stalin calls Hindus mosquitoes.
I am not oversimplifying this debate, nor am I unaware of all strands of debate on all sides. But honestly, truly speaking, I don’t get politicization of languages in a country like India. We are so comfortably multilingual without even realizing we are. Why not encourage that?
I have never come across a language that I haven’t loved. I have never come across a language that does not have rich literature, poetry, unique phrases and beautiful imagery. Being trilingual is the best way forward. Mother tongue, Hindi and English - acquire fluency in all.
We will always have a inexplicable affinity towards our mother tongue, like I do for Kashmiri. I get emotions better in my mother tongue. There are feelings that just cannot be translated. This is how it should be. Why fight it? As long as we learn 2 more languages.
Ms. Anuradha Bhasin of Kashmir Times, who has authored this piece, is upset because she was told to vacate Govt allotted premises where she peddled her anti state agenda for decades. Ms. Bhasin wants to attack Indian state but she wants Indian govt to pay for it. Too bad.
Media in J&K was stunningly ‘free’ before 2019. They wanted govt money, govt accommodations, govt doles to dish out anti India stuff. That has been stopped now. I don’t understand if they want to write Jihadi narrative why should India pay for it. Use your own money folks.
The Kashmir Times newspaper of Ms. Anuradha Bhasin and her staff were allotted 5 properties that belonged to the J&K state govt. Why did Ms. Bhasin accept favors from the same state that she is a stringent critic of? Why not do your journalism on your own dime?
India was a one party system for pretty much 50 years after independence. Pity those who talk about political competition now didn’t worry about quality of democracy now. BJP should be credited for making India a genuine multi party democracy.
India’s one party system was broken by two men- Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani along with thousands of their political workers. It took them decades to achieve this. They never ran to foreign shores complaining about institutions working against them.
ABV and LKA endured jail terms, ignominy of being reduced to 2 seats in Lok Sabha, were forced to go underground during emergency, yet they persisted and created a political alternative for Indians. They didn’t run to foreign countries dissing their own country.
I have to say that ghats are much cleaner and Kashi Vishwanath corridor has transformed this place totally. No oped, no video, no report can prepare you for this miraculous transformation. You have to see this yourself. PM @narendramodi has managed to do impossible
Don’t believe what naysayers tell you. Don’t believe ‘dirt and squalor adds to character’ crowd and don’t believe ‘Kashi Corridor has destroyed ancient architecture’ crowd. Nothing has been destroyed. Look at what has been preserved and how important it is for revival.
PM Modi has done many things that have earned him a space in history. But what he has done in Kashi has immortalized him. Nobody had the courage to do this before him.
All ‘serious and scholarly’ work certified by who? Establishment historians? Establishment historians who were sold to Sheikh Abdullah. Historians who sold Sheikh as anti colonial and anti imperial crusader of which there is no proof?
Maybe @Jairam_Ramesh should read Prem Shankar Jha’s Kashmir,1947- Rival Versions of History where he says Maharaja sent an emissary to Delhi on 13th Sept. Maharaja had communication lines open with Patel. There is nothing on record that proves Maharaja wanted independent Kashmir.
Those of you who are clued in to this debate please watch first 20 minutes of this conversation where @tamiri_dr explains that Sheikh A’s understanding with ‘Nehru-Gandhi ki Congress’ was merely tactical. It was Sheikh who wanted an independent Sheikhdom