[Reader-list] Kashmiri journalists attacked

Fri Sep 12 15:29:03 IST 2008

Dear Rahul,

you are right.the situation in kashmir is really bad.The national media does
not report what is happening there.It never did and when it did it either
underplayed facts or made stereotypes stronger.It was the media that made us
believe that things are OK in the valley,some 4 months back.They went gaga
over Santosh Trophy ,Shame Gurukul and Golf tournaments..They misread calm
for peace.You are yourself a journalist and therefore would acknowledge how
little do most of the journalists covering Kashmir know or understand about
it.Anyone who spends a week in A shikara comes back as a Kashmir Expert.To
expect good reportage from them is asking for the sunshine in Siberia.I have
personally met a lot of journalists,who write on Kashmir, without even
having a basic understanding of Kashmir.It is them who never report the
truth and beat drums of non existenet or hyped Kashmiriyat when none
exists.Some of them sit in the most influential positions in media houses.So
Media has always played a rather dubious role in reporting from or about
Kashmir or Kashmiiris.It is media that did not make any noise when Bitta
Karate was released.So they are and have been as much a culprit as the
government or separtists have been in this mess.
On the present crisis-Who can disagree that government has mishandled the
situation first by giving too much of rope and now putting too many
curbs.Curfew should have been imposed on day one when people came out
against the land trasfer order.We would have saved many innocent lives.
Well I also request you to be more careful in your choice of words...an
ordinary Kashmiri should read ordinary Kashmiri Muslims.As far as I know
most Pandits sans people like me are still Indians.We also need to go back
to the days and places where you and me lived without a policeman in even 10
kms radius.Violence begets violence.I am not condoning what you claim
that the police is doing but genesis of the problem lies in the armed
insurgency which brought all this upon us the Kashmiris(not Kashmiri Muslims
Alone).
If MK Narayaan thinks what he is thinking now, he is actually aping people
like Salaudhin,Yasin Malik and others who though they would beat India with
guns.Brutal force is no answer.It has taken separtists 18 years to
understand that maybe Govt will also understand in sometime.

Regards

Rashneek Kher

On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 1:11 PM, Rahul Pandita <rahulpandita at yahoo.com>wrote:

> The situation is really bad in Kashmir. And not even a fraction of what is
> happening there gets reported by the national media. I was there on
> September 6, in downtown Nawhatta, when a young taxi driver, Javed Iqbal
> Bhat, was shot at by the police. He died on the spot. Javed had not even
> been a part of the protestors. He had just stepped out to buy toffees for
> his two-year-old nephew. The police falsely claimed that the protestors had
> been using petrol bombs. I was there: nothing beyond stones was used.
>
> Both TOI and HT reported the next day that "a protestor was killed in
> clashes." This is absurd. If MK Narayanan thinks that he can bring down
> protests by the use of brutal force, he is mistaken. Making an executive
> engineer frog jump (in Jawahar Nagar) in front of his two sons is not
> helping India. It will further alienate the ordinary Kashmiri.
>
> Rahul Pandita   www.sanitysucks.blogspot.com  Mobile: 9818088664
>
>
> --- On Wed, 10/9/08, Khurram Parvez <khurramparvez at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Khurram Parvez <khurramparvez at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: [Reader-list] Kashmiri journalists attacked
> > To: "SARAI" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Date: Wednesday, 10 September, 2008, 7:05 PM
> > Press Release
> >
> > In the aftermath of the Amarnath land controversy, members
> > of press in Kashmir have been coming under serious attack by
> > the personnel of CRPF and in some measure by the crowds. We
> > have reasons to believe that the attacks happen by
> > deliberate design of the State agencies. When the governor N
> > N Vohra was informed about these attacks, he pleaded
> > ignorance and, in presence of some members of press and the
> > secretary information, instructed the Director General of
> > Police not to let such attacks to continue.
> >
> > However, to present just one instance, the attacks
> > continued the next day, confirming our suspicion that the
> > attacks are carried out by design. Journalists have faced
> > irrational demands from CRPF personnel manning the streets
> > like "you are not carrying a curfew pass for your
> > camera." Such instances could tell volumes.
> >
> > For reference, a list of journalists attacked by security
> > forces personnel is attached. It is demanded that the
> > process of intimidation of journalists is stopped to enable
> > press to carry out its professional duties.
> >
> > Annexure
> >
> > July 05 - Raashid Wani of Sahara Samay was severely beaten
> > by CRPF at near Jinab Sahib Shrine in Soura. The cameraman
> > spent three days in the hospital.
> >
> > August, 12 - Bashir Ahmad lone -CNN-IBN cameraman's car
> > was fired at near Lasjan. Raashid Wani was also beaten up in
> > the incident. PRO CRPF later exclaimed that he wonders why
> > the guy is beaten up every time.
> >
> > August, 13 - Javaid Ahmad Mir- Killed by a bullet from
> > security forces near Bagh-e-Mehtab. He worked as a cameraman
> > with a local cable TV channel.
> >
> > August 19 - Photojournalist, Amman Farooq, of Greater
> > Kashmir was beaten up and his arm broken by CRPF at Bypass
> > near Qamarwari. His arm was broken.
> >
> > August, 22 - Muzamil Rashid of IBN 7 was shooting at Habba
> > Kadal when CRPF opened fire on protestors and then tried to
> > snatch his camera. He ran away but was severely thrashed.
> > Sheikh Umar of News 24 was also injured in the same
> > incident.
> >
> > August 24 - Bilal Bhat, Sahara Samay correspondent along
> > with his team members stopped by CRPF at Rambagh. Even
> > though he had a curfew pass, he was thrashed. Sustained a
> > fracture in his rib. Team members- Jan Mohammad, Rashid Mir,
> > Muzzaffar.
> >
> > August, 24 - S. Fayaz of UNI was stopped near SMHS
> > hospital. ``When I showed my curfew pass, the CRPF men said
> > it is not valid anymore,'' he said. ``I turned my
> > bike to go back but they started hitting him''.
> >
> > August 24 - AFP photographer Touseef Mustafa was sent back
> > from Lal Chowk even though he had a curfew pass. The CRPF
> > asked him for Curfew pass of his camera and lens.
> >
> > August, 24 - Jehangir Aziz of ETV and Khalid Hussain of
> > IBN7 were beaten by CRPF near Rambagh.
> >
> > August, 24 - Manoj Koul of ETV was also thrashed near Zero
> > Bridge. He had called DIG operations, CRPF M P Nathanael,
> > who told him that the previous curfew passes would be valid.
> > But as he reached near old zero bridge, CRPF men thrashed
> > him.
> >
> > August 24 - Amin War of Tribune, Firdous Ahmad of News-X
> > and Amin Bhat of NDTV were stopped near Bakshi stadium by
> > the CRPF. The CRPF asked them to stuff their curfew passes
> > back in their pockets and beat them up. ``The CRPF men told
> > us that today, we will do whatever we want. No one can stop
> > us,'' Amin War told The Indian Express.
> >
> > August 25 - CRPF men patrolling the Tehsil Road in
> > Baramulla smashed the front and back lights of the car of
> > Mir Ehsan, correspondent Indian Express. "They had
> > already smashed my car when they asked for the curfew pass.
> > I had to run away to save myself."
> >
> > August 24 – Umar Ganaie, a photojournalist of daily
> > Kashmir Monitor, was thrashed by a Superintendent of Kashmir
> > Police in SMHS hospital. The photojournalist tried to show
> > his curfew pass but the SP tore it apart. He was also beaten
> > up by CRPF outside when a police officer asked them to beat
> > him.
> >
> > August, 24 - The local news papers were not allowed to
> > distribute their copies. Greater Kashmir staff came under
> > assault when Zahoor Ahmad, Mohd. Iqbal, Ghulam Mohammad were
> > stopped early morning at Rambagh and beaten up by CRPF men
> > while they were carrying copies for distribution.
> > Later in the afternoon, CRPF men thrashed three other
> > employees of Greater Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Mohammad
> > Rafiq Margay and Farooq Ahmad Mir were going to their
> > editor's place with curfew passes.
> > In the evening, Majid Hyderi of Greater Kashmir was
> > intimidated at Hyderpora after CRPF men checked his I-Card
> > and curfew pass. "They abused me and did not allow me
> > go to office," Majid said.
> >
> > Rising Kashmir staff also came under assault at several
> > places on the same day. Farooq Ahmad of distribution section
> > of Rising Kashmir and the newspaper's system
> > administrator, Rahil, were beaten at Batamaloo while the two
> > were carrying newspapers for distribution.
> >
> > August 25 - Asif Qureshi of Star News was stopped at
> > Hyderpora by CRPF and beaten up. His car was also smashed
> > while he was coming back from Airport.
> >
> > August 28 - The Correspondent of Hindu in Kashmir, Shujaat
> > Bukhari's home at Rawalpora, Srinagar was raided by
> > security forces as they were looking for separatist leaders.
> >
> >
> > August 29 - Hakeem Irfan, Rising Kashmir correspondent, was
> > beaten at Rainawari. "Press wale ho, isi liye maar padi
> > (You were beaten only because you are a journalist,"
> > Irfan was told.
> >
> > August 29 - The news editor of Daily Etalaat, Ishfaq
> > Tantray was stopped near Radio Kashmir in Srinagar and
> > beaten up. He was beaten up. "aap log hungama karte ho
> > (you people are responsible for the problems)".
> >
> > September 8: Police cops confiscated all the newspaper
> > supply - Greater Khasmir, Etalaat, Raising Kahsmir, Kashmir
> > Uzam etc - meant for north Kashmir at Narbal, some
> > 15-kilometers from Srinagar. The cops also destroyed thje
> > camera of Etalaat's photographer Sajad Raja and also
> > threatened him. On the same day, around eight
> > photojournalists were thrashed by J-K police and Central
> > Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in downtown city while covering
> > a protest against the killing of a youth.
> >
> > Others thrashed by CRPF
> >
> > Syed Muzzaffar - Srinagar Times.
> >
> > Mukhtar Ahmad - Srinagar Mail.
> >
> > The mob attacks:
> >
> > On August 13, the Srinagar Bureau Chief of Aaj Tak, Ashraf
> > Wani was injured and his camera broken this morning when
> > angry crowd attacked him inside the SMHS hospital, Srinagar.
> >
> >
> > An NDTV cameraman, Amir Bhat was also injured when people
> > attacked his vehicle at SKIMS on August 13.
> >
> > The correspondent of Daily News Analysis (DNA)
> > Ishfaq-ul-Hassan was thrashed by people near Karan Nagar. He
> > had earlier been stopped by police and was asked to give
> > lift to one of their men. When people saw him carrying a
> > policeman with him, they stopped him and started beating
> > him.
> >
> > Issued jointly by Srinagar based journalists
> >
> >
> >
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>
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-- 
Rashneek Kher
Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com