[Reader-list] Seditious articles on Kashmir criticised

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Seditious articles on Kashmir criticised
 Anil Anand
Friday, September 19, 2008  03:29 IST

Link - http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1191501

NEW DELHI: Top personalities from diverse fields have, in a signed
statement, criticised the recent airing of seditious views in the media in
relation to Jammu & Kashmir.

The signatories, led by Subhash Chandra, chairman of the Essel group and one
of the promoters of DNA, include voices associated with the bureaucracy, the
armed forces, and the media, among others.

The statement, while affirming the media's right to air different views, is
emphatic that "freedom of expression does not mean unbridled licence to
flout the law of the land by airing or fanning seditious views. Such views
also do a disservice to the people of Kashmir. We call upon the
intelligentsia that has the power to shape public opinion to use their power
with wisdom and maturity."

The statement comes in the wake of "stray voices" in the TV and print media
which openly supported the secession of Kashmir from India, in violation of
a unanimous parliament resolution of 1994 which affirms J&K as an integral
part of India and also asks for the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"Some stray voices in media have been questioning, with surprising
nonchalance and lack of depth, the wisdom and expediency of retaining
Kashmir as a part of India. This matters not because such voices reflect any
growing view in our country but because they play into the hands of the
enemies of the nation. Their suggestions embolden subversive forces both
within and outside the country, and encourage our adversaries to entertain
the hope that with a little more effort, Kashmir will secede from India,"
the statement says.

Among the signatories to the statement are former Indian high commissioner
to Pakistan G Parthasarathy, former navy and air force chiefs Admiral Arun
Prakash and SP Tyagi, two former home secretaries Anil Baijal and Dhirendra
Singh, eminent editor MJ Akbar and former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit
Doval.

Former secretaries of the Research & Analysis Wing CD Sahay and Vikram Sood,
former Delhi Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor, Bhaskar group director Sudhir
Agarwal, Maj Gen Afsar Karim, Lt Gen RK Sahwney, Lt Gen Shantanu Chaudhary,
former director general of the National Security Guard and ex-governor of
Manipur Ved Marwah, former secretary of the National Security Council Satish
Chandra, former external affairs secretary SK Sikri and the chairman
emeritus of Ernst & Young K Memani have also signed the statement.

The signatories assert that "Kashmir is an inalienable element of India's
civilisational identity and symbolises the fundamental principles on which
the modern Indian state has been built." Terming national will as a critical
component of state power, they felt that "devious adversaries" have resorted
to psychological warfare in order to break the national will.

Responding to queries, Subhash Chandra said the initiative was guided by the
fact that civil society could not sit silent when such things were
happening. Civil society had the added responsibility of responding to the
situation when the government preferred not to react to such objectionable
writing, he said, adding: "This movement will grow and in the coming weeks
more people will joint the chorus."
Asked about the reasons behind these articles, journalist Akbar felt it must
have happened on grounds of press freedom, but such freedom was not
unbridled. "You want to enjoy the rights of the Indian Constitution without
supporting it," he commented.
On the issue of adopting a self-disciplinary mechanism by the media, he said
it had been decided some years back to have such a system. "We could not
achieve it perhaps due to our own weakness."