[Reader-list] Mass Graves in Kashmir

Sat Apr 12 20:46:07 IST 2008

Dear all,

at a friends urging, I did a short google search using the string  
"Nameless Graves Kashmir" and I came up with  a first 30 pages of  
reports. There were stories in newspapers based in Kashmir like  
Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Times of course, and stories in the  
International Herald Tribune, in newspapers out of Ireland, Taiwan,  
Pakistan and elsewhere, besides numerous blog posts and forwards on  
lists. The only Indian newspapers of any consequence that featured  
the story (I tracked this till the 30th google page) were -

Punjab Kesri
http://www.punjabkesari.com/frmChNewsDetails.aspx? 
uid=72362&CatName=Jammu-Kashmir

Tribune
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080410/j&k.htm#9

The Telegraph, Kolkata
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080406/jsp/nation/story_9101889.jsp

The Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 
msid-2912554,flstry-1.cms

Outlook
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?gid=61&id=560828

DNA, Mumbai
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1159182

(all more or less 'regional/city' publications) Barring Outlook. None  
of the national dailies, or big news channels seem to have anything.

I have already listed the Hindustan Times story in the previous  
posting. This frugality of media attention is surprising, given the  
seriousness of the story.

I spent some time on the Indian Express website, and here is what I  
found.

The Indian Express's micro website - www.kashmirlive.com - which is  
tagged - "Coverage from the Largest news bureau in the valley" and  
which offers 'latest Kashmir news' has no report on the mass graves.  
It does have a photograph, (in the section titled 'Gallery' by Javed  
Shah, that is captioned - 'participant at a rally for displaced  
persons in Srinagar' and one can make out from the banner that it  
carries the words 'missing' and that it is clearly organized by the  
'Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons' - the  
organization that has brought out the report called 'Facts  
Underground' which highlights the anonymous graves. The dateline of  
the photograph, and the contents of the image suggest that the event  
must have to do with the APDPs report (titled 'Facts Underground' )  
on the 'nameless graves'

But the Indian Express's editorial policy, no doubt a fine example of  
a case of the hihgly restrained realization of its credo of  
'journalism of courage', transformed 'disappearance' into  
'displacement', and omits to give any indication of what the rally is  
all about. In fact, given that the term 'displacement' is usually  
identified with the internal migration of Kashmiri Pundits, a casual  
reader may even think (simply from reading the caption to the  
photograph) that this may be referring to 'displaced' Kashmiris, ie,  
Kashmiri Pandits.

In fact the 10 top stories in the Indian Express's dedicated micro  
site for news about Kashmir are as follows -

1.Civilian killed after being mistaken for a militant
2. First Kashmiri Maj Gen asks youth to join army
3. Sonia Gandhi to visit Kashmiri migrant camp
4. J-K spends Rs 15 crore on road upgradation project
5. Traffic awareness campaign to be launched
6. 21,000 vacancies to be filled by fast-track recruitment
7. NC at the forefront of anti-Kashmiri tirade: PDP
8. Former ultras float seperatist political outfit
9. Bomb squad destroys fuse safely
10. Valley expects heavy influx of tourists

You would have thought that the "largest" news bureau in the valley,  
would have the human resources to folllow up on a story that refers  
to the remains of the bodies of 940 nameless people.

The Hindu (known for the imaginative journalism of one Praveen Swami  
on Kashmir , recently discussed on one of the postings) features only  
one recent report on Kashmir - about a youth found guilty of  
impersonation and fraud.

How much courage does it take for the Journalism of Courage to get  
its act together. I am not making a special case for the Indian  
Express - the Hindu, the Times of India, NDTV, CNN-IBN all seem  
complicit in the generation of a very loud silence.

Does any one know why this is the case? I am currently not in Delhi  
and so, cannot get a sense of what is causing this strange silence.

Would really like to know what other people think is actually going on.

best

Shuddha

On 12-Apr-08, at 6:04 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta wrote:

>   Dear All,
>
> This is in continuation of Junaid's posting of April 7 : 'Amnesty
> International and Human Rights Watch slam Indian human rights abuses
> in Kashmir' . The posting pointed out the recent discovery of mass
> graves containing the remains of Nine hundred and forty unidentified
> bodies in different sites in Kashmir.
>
> If the allegations that these are bodies of people killed and
> disposed of by the security forces, and that they may contain the
> remains of many who are alleged to have 'disappeared' in Kashmir are
> true, then this constitutes a very serious matter.
>
> Here are three recent reports that have appeared on the BBC website
> on the subject.
>
> 1. Protest over graves in Kashmir
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7343454.stm
>
> 2. Kashmir police refuse body demand
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7325001.stm
>
> 3. Amnesty urges Kashmir grave probe
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7334965.stm
>
> I have not seen too many reports in the mainstream 'indian' media
> about this - I could be wrong, and would like to be corrected, but
> preliminary google searches about the subject in connection with The
> Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express, NDTV and CNN-IBN did
> not yield any results.
>
> The only exception in the mainstream 'Indian' media that I could find
> was a report by Rashid Ahmad from Srinagar in the Hindustan Times.
>
> The story is titled -
>
> Mass graves in Kashmir raise rights violation stink
> Rashid Ahmad, Hindustan Times
> Srinagar, March 29, 2008
>
> http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?
> id=eb572d05-2d48-4604-99a0-1fc154e2c914&MatchID1=4680&TeamID1=6&TeamID 
> 2=
> 3&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1179&PrimaryID=4680&Headline=Mass+graves
> +raise+rights+violation+stink
>
> if the general media silence in India about this shocking story is a
> fact. (Again, I hope I am wrong here). Then it is time to ask what
> makes it possible for Indian newspapers and television stations to
> report mass graves in Iraq and Bosnia and suddenly turn all coy when
> they are found in Indian administered Kashmir.
>
> Further, is it time to think about what steps may be necessary to
> take to move towards a boycott of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games
> in Delhi (2010)? (Among other things).
>
> Perhaps there are lessons to be learnt from the Tibetans.
>
> best
>
> Shuddha
>
>
>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net