‘Stone pelters angry, not paid agents’
HM report finds disconnect between K-youth, India
NEW DELHI, Jan 28: Describing
incidents like shooting of a Kashmiri M.Phil student in Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh, as unfortunate and contributing to inward looking tendency of
Kashmir youth, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took exception to parading of Kashmiri youth ahead of Independence and Republic days and refusal to rent
out houses
to them outside their state.
He also said the time of setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission has come, even as two
Kashmiri Pandit activists were attempting to interrupt his concluding remarks at a function, where he released an official survey on psyche and
perception and Media Impact on Kashmir Youth.
The Home Ministry sponsored report has found a glaring disconnect between Kashmiri youth and rest of
India. He also asked national newspapers to start publication in Kashmir to provide an alternate viewpoint as readers are forced to depend on local
newspapers. He, however, rejected the impression that stone throwers were being paid to create ruckus.
“They were there, because they
were angry. Some may have been instigated by monitory gains, but that is not an absolute truth. It was one killing leading to another killing and the
cycle of protests that they were on streets. We must not generalise it,” he told a select audience.
Two migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the
audience protested at his remarks on the leadership of Kashmiri Pandit community.
“Unfortunately there is a section of Kashmiri Pandit
leadership who owe their existence to the miseries of displaced Pandits. They will lose existence once Kashmiri Pandits return to the Valley,”
he said.
Union Home Ministry had commissioned a survey on perception, psyche and media impact on Kashmiri Youth at the height of 2010 showdown.
The survey has found that 54 per cent youth demanded Azadi, it has also brought out a large number of them over 60 per cent talking about
mis-govenance. According to the survey conducted by the Institute for Research on India and International Studies (IRIIS) for the Jammu and Kashmir
Division of Ministry of Home Affairs has found 48 per cent of the Kashmir valley's population having different notions than those perceived by their
parents over two decades ago when Kashmiri Pandits were displaced from the territory.
A substantial majority, 67 per cent of the youth believe
that Kashmiri Pandits should return to the valley, though 70 per cent of them acknowledged that they hadn't done anything about it while only 18 per
cent publicly supported their cause.
These and other important facets of the Kashmir youth's psyche emerged in a study ordered by the J&K
division of the Home Ministry last year to explore media impact on them. The ministry is all set to release the study report in the next few
days.
The study shows "disillusionment with the gun option running deep as it is rejected by an overwhelming 72 per cent of youth" while 24
of them rated the civilian violence of the kind valley has witnessed in the past couple of years as an effective option. Their interest about
developments in Pakistan is also sharply waning.
A 'clear, subtle but perceptible trend' noted in the study is that the Kashmir youth is
turning to Islam in many ways as it says 61 per cent of the valley's youth is listening to religious sermons on their audio/MP3 players and 25 per
cent identify the local mosques and graveyards as places for getting together with their friends to get news on Kashmir, and gain more knowledge about
Islam.
Rights matter for the Kashmiri youth, though their public discourse is still framed through the usage of more popular vocabulary of
self-rule and azadi. While 54 per cent identified azadi as their preferred final status of J&K, a further exploration of its diverse meanings yields a
much more nuanced picture: "For 56 per cent of these youth, Azadi was about Kashmiris' rights -- political, civil and economic."
Idea of
Azadi among others centres around the notion of a "territorially separate Kashmir" includes 8 per cent envisaging a sovereign and independent state,
11 per cent wanting "freedom from India" and 10 per cent talked of a separate Kashmir without furnishing any further details.
Media is certainly
influencing their political perceptions as nearly 70 per cent ranked the TV or radio news and reports to be influencing their views on contemporary
political issues facing Kashmir and 54 per cent were influenced by newspapers as well as from people around while 20 per cent got ideas from the
web-based information.
The study noted that the general political awareness of the Kashmiri youth is very high. They access multiple channels of
communication to get news and if an important event or a crisis is unfolding, they tend to verify the news from various alternate sources.
TV
and radio channels score the higher rank for providing news and entertainment to the Kashmiri youth as 74 per cent of them watch the state-run TV and
radio channels including DD Kashmir, AIR and Radio Kashmir. The local channels, in comparison, are viewed by 49 per cent of the youth, though these
have been banned from telecasting any news programmes since September 2010. The international channels such as BBC and CNN and the private Indian TV
channels compete closely for a third position at 43 and 41 per cent respectively.
Nearly 60 per cent of Kashmiri youths read both English and
Urdu dailies, while only 17 per cent read the national English dailies, primarily because they do not reach the valley in the morning hours. Internet
is also gaining popularity, though largely in the urban areas where 31 per cent access it, 77 per cent of them on their mobile phones using GPRS or 3G
services. The web is used mainly to access local newspapers and Kashmir-specific websites.
The study has thrown up many recommendations,
including a better interface between the government and the media through certain instituionalised mechanisms and creation of a level playing field
for the private TV channels and the national newspapers giving them a free hand but with robust regulatory mechanisms.
Pluralising the
discourses on Kashmir collectively by the government, civil society and media through debates to generate more informed public discussions and
educational institutions encouraging students to engage with socio-political and economic issues facing Kashmir with an open mind to promote an
independent thinking are some other recommendations.
[Kashmir Times]
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