[Reader-list] The Hindu on Tibet

Wali Arifi waliarifi3 at gmail.com
Fri Apr 11 20:41:41 IST 2008 

One would have hoped that this response was posted on the Sarai forum. These
are no personal issues though...

Now that Ms Sonia Jabbar wants a response to her work/writing about Kashmir,
may I ask if she considers Kashmir a military occupation, just like
Tibet, or a law and order issue most nationalist Indians like to beleive it
is?

Not that her readership and observance is not aware of Ms Jabbar's
neo-Gandhian activism in Kashmir. Could Ms Jabbar also, for the benefit of
Sarai subscribers, point out any published stand on what she believes
Kashmir issue to be?

And does she also have anything to say about Kashmir reportage by the likes
of Praveen Swami and Barkha Dutt both of whom along with many
others owe their careers as journalists to misrepresenting Kashmir.

best



On 4/11/08, sonia jabbar <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Easy for you to accuse me of  enjoying 'an organic
> relationship with the powers that be.'  Easier to say I  observe criminal
> silence than to find out what I've said  and  respond intelligently and
> substantively to my writings and activism.
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 12:28 AM, Wali Arifi <waliarifi3 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear all
> >
> > It is not clear why the signatories to the letter are agitated about the
> > way
> > The Hindu has dealt with the Tibet issue. The editorial in question
> > actually
> > reflects the newspaper's consistent outlook about many similar issues.
> >
> > The newspaper's well known Rural Editor simply chose to overlook
> > recently
> > exposed state terrorism by the CPI(M) government in Nandigram. Mr P
> > Sainath,
> > the interrogator of Indian social reality, in complete contrast to what
> > he
> > is known for, chose to remain silent about purging, massacre and
> > onslaught
> > of corporate world. All this in conformity with the newspaper's
> > proximity to
> > the so called CPI(M) ideology and the party.
> >
> > Similarly, The Hindu's "ace reporter" and its "Kashmir expert", Mr
> > Praveen
> > Swami, appears to have been left above any ethical or professional
> > scrutiny
> > - the right a newspaper is supposed to unequivocally reserve for itself
> > and
> > its readers. The newspaper willingly chooses to ignore how Swamiji has
> > over
> > time been turned into a dumping yard for its scrap book by the country's
> > intelligence establishment. The ace journalist does not even seem to
> > exercise the basic minimum professional duty of cross checking
> > information
> > dolled out to him by his intelligence handlers.
> >
> > For patient readers the link bellow provides just an example, the tip of
> > the
> > Swamiji iceberg.
> >
> > http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/04/stories/2008040458210100.htm
> >
> > While the ace reporter was being briefed for this particular report (I
> > am
> > taking the sweet liberty to imagine once like Swamiji so regularly
> > does),
> > his (and thus The Hindu's) trusted handlers forgot to check that the
> > Hizbul
> > Mujahideen (HM) ceasefire dates were off the mark only by three years.
> > According to Swamiji, HM's July 2000 ceasefire was scripted by the
> > group's
> > ideologue in 2003!
> >
> > For a discerning reader, The Hindu cannot be disappointing in this
> > regard.
> > Be it Tibet, Kashmir, Nandigram or the issue of Northeast. In fact, its
> > Kashmir reportage happens through the intelligence establishment with
> > just
> > tulip gardens from the ground. Or, may be the newspaper is mandated only
> > to
> > write about US imperialism.
> >
> > For the signatories of the letter to the newspaper, particularly Sonia
> > Jabbar, Shashi Tharoor and Ramachandra Guha, who enjoy an organic
> > relationship with the powers that be, it is easy to understand how they
> > give
> > themselves the moral right to talk about Tibet and choose to exercise
> > criminal silence about what India has been doing in Northeast and
> > Kashmir.
> >
> > Nationalism, lady and gentlemen, is quite a mandate!
> >
> > Best
> >  On 4/9/08, radhikarajen at vsnl.net <radhikarajen at vsnl.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > I very much appreciate your concern and anguish, but it is wellknown
> > fact
> > > that our "cadres" always hail china and welcome them with painting red
> > the
> > > whole of the city like they did in 1962.The very fact that the line
> > marked
> > > as Mcmohan line as border between british india in 1945 after the end
> > of
> > > world war, even today remains unsurveyed, thanks to our cadre friends
> > > engineering hindi-chini bhai bhai. It is not late even now to make a
> > joint
> > > survey and with dialogue end the border row and disputes with China,
> > then
> > > two nations, the developing economies of Asia, both India and China
> > can have
> > > honourable  interaction with all nations in the comity of nations,
> > even US
> > > would be thinking twice if our leaders think of the nation and its
> > freedom
> > > than kickbacks in N-deal for the first family.!
> > > Regards.
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "S. Jabbar" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> > > Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 5:44 pm
> > > Subject: [Reader-list] The Hindu on Tibet
> > > To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Letter to the Editor:
> > > >
> > > > The Hindu's bias in favour of the Chinese Government in its
> > > > editorial on
> > > > Tibet (March 28, 2008) is dismaying.  The reasons behind the recent
> > > > demonstrations by Tibetans are transparent. You speak of sustained
> > > > growth,omitting the fact that Han Chinese control the economy,
> > > > Party and
> > > > government. Impartial observers have documented the onslaught on
> > > > naturalresources, the repression of Buddhism, the enforced
> > > > denunciations of the
> > > > Dalai Lama.
> > > >
> > > > The subjugation of Tibet is most evident in re-settlement policy.
> > > > In 1952
> > > > Chairman Mao complained that there were "hardly any Han in Tibet."
> > > > By 1953
> > > > there were 100,000 Chinese in the province of Qinghai, the renamed
> > > > easternTibetan province of Amdo. In 1985 there were 2.5 million
> > > > Chinese and 750,000
> > > > Tibetans in Qinghai. By the 2000 census only 20% of Qinghai's
> > > > population was
> > > > Tibetan.
> > > >
> > > > This demographic engineering undermines the comparison you draw
> > > > betweenTibet and Kashmir. Right-wing groups in India have long
> > > > demanded the
> > > > re-settlement of the Kashmir Valley. However, Article 370 disallows
> > > > non-state subjects from buying land; and it is to allay Kashmiri
> > > > anxietiesthat New Delhi has not granted autonomy or separate
> > > > statehood for Ladakh and
> > > > Jammu.
> > > >
> > > > Beijing's abusive denunciations of the Dalai Lama and its
> > > > stonewalling of
> > > > his proposals make it difficult to accept their sincerity. A just
> > > > solution"within the framework of one China" is precisely what the
> > > > Dalai Lama has
> > > > pursued.
> > > >
> > > > The Hindu's wholesale reproduction of the official Chinese line on
> > > > Tibetdoes it little credit.
> > > >
> > > > Yours sincerely,
> > > >
> > > > Sonia Jabbar
> > > > Ramachandra Guha
> > > > Mukul Kesavan
> > > > Madhu Sarin
> > > > Jyotirmaya Sharma
> > > > Dilip Simeon
> > > > Tenzin Sonam
> > > > Shashi Tharoor
> > > > _________________________________________
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