News Pollution in Conflict Zones
Ahmad Kashmiri
There is a kashmiri saying “ Ekes Dazav Makane, Byakh Aayav Wautt
Buzne”(while some bodies house was burning, another man had come to bake his cob). Same applies to the mainstream politicians of Kashmir who
always try to bake their political cob when people here are subjected to the oven of sufferings and atrocities. At a time when the whole Kashmir was
burning in the mayhem of screams and mournings for the unending killings of teenagers, these politicians left no stone unturned in gaining the
political mileage out of the mayhem. Sometimes they raise hue and cry for the scarcity and short supply of ‘essential commodities’ like
sugar, kerosene, rice or for that matter the electricity transformer requirement. And when these things fall under incompetence to gain the desired
mileage due to one or the other reason then these politicians resort to allegations and cross allegations for corruption, scams and scandals with
their rival mainstream parties or persons. Even when this formula too fails they vow the ‘Kashmir issue’ and try to undermine the masses.
State media being their own one and the private media including the print media being constraintly working in conflict zones, these, main stream
politicians do succeeded in their mission to some extent though not permanently. Those days Kashmir could be resembled to a tale, we have heard in
the childhood, that there was a king who used to call one lady everynight from his nation to fulfill his dirty desires and would kill that lady in
the morning, thus killing one lady per day.
With a different ‘architecture’ we in Kashmir faced a similar torment as per the toll
of killings is concerned when taken on average basis. 117 kashmiris most of them the teen agers were killed in 2010
Most of the killed boys
were below the age of 14 years. It is pertinent to mention here that the developed world has many laws and regulations for the child labour which
applies to the same age group and the laws are in vogue and are implemented almost everywhere in the world with the largest democracy of the world-
India being no exception. But Alas! The same developed world had become the mere spectator when 117 teen-ager boys and girls are murdered in cold
blood in Kashmir and this was done by none other than the security forces of the world’s largest democracy who has a pride of having
child-loving leaders like Aanjahani Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and A P J Abul Kalam.
And while the blood of teen agers continued to gush out and
their killings continued, yet the mainstream (pro-Indian) parties and politicians succeeded in encroaching the news columns despite the fact that the
audiences especially the readers of the newspapers were emetic to this type of news, thinking, that if at all, it could be categorized as a hard-news
following the tempest condition of the situation in Kashmir. The two main rival pro-Indian political parties NC and PDP have been on the mission of
down playing with each other, and the newspapers having ethical and other professional constraints, carry the developments going on from day to day
with respect to the mainstream political scenario of Kashmir. But following the ground situation of the summer mass upsurge, the mainstream
politicians and their ‘business’ is least important to a common Kashmiri.
Indeed in such times even if the state power gets
transferred from one political party to another and thereby chief minister gets changed or if the State Assembly gets dissolved and the Governor rule
follows, it does not have any core importance as the analysts believe in. The core issue in which lies the main root of all the offshoots of
uncertainty, unrest, upsurge or whatever the terminology one may use for it, is the unresolved Kashmir dispute. It can neither be cocooned nor
embedded in the causes of poverty, unemployment, social-injustice or the development and progress thereof. These causes are indeed, the escape
sequences, which India and its extension in Kashmir (J&K Govt) has been availing. But now it seems difficult that these escape sequences will work any
longer because the sprit has got transferred to 4th generation, which grew only in the ups and downs of the vigorous stage of movement. The celebrity
columnists call this generation as the ‘conflict generation’. And this generation has been showing its belligerence since 2008
uprising.
The analysts who have a vigilant eye on the up-risings in Kashmir believe that there is tough time for mainstream politicians who
have to face this conflict generation every now and then. Because this generation has matured to understand the all kinds of
‘developments’ (things) taking place in Kashmir. These teenagers are much witty and bold to come under any trick and flattering by
today’s ‘seasoned’ politicians. Their courage is sky-scraping, their aspirations are soaring.
Infact, sometimes, while
writing, one shifts off the track, but this approach of getting deviated too has a reason and that reason is the whirlpool of scenarios being in vogue
as at present in Kashmir. Some days back a columnist-friend asked me that what I was writing nowadays. I replied, nothing. He asked reason. I told him
when things get written by the blood of the children of the soil, no other ink can do justice with the expression.
Anyway, I was supposed to
write on ‘‘News Pollution” I don’t know upto what extent I did justice with the title and if at all the editor will keep the
same title for this piece of write up. So for we have come to know about water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution etc. all these pollutions
cause panic and exhaustion to the people. But perhaps now we all have got trapped in the News pollution, which has various dimensions and is more
dangerous than all other pollutions. News Pollution, worldover, may be another growing threat to human psychology but conflict zones of the world are
the worst hit. However, we kashmiris have a hope not to get much harmed for the reason that the blood of our teen agers is too dense to get
diluted.
(Feedback at ahmadkashmiri@gmail.com)
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