[Reader-list] Reporting in Kashmir is one-sided

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

*Reporting in Kashmir is one-sided
*
   *SPECIAL REPORT*
*INTERVIEW/*G.K. PILLAI, UNION HOME SECRETARY

*By Mandira Nayar*

*The internet is teeming with virulent anti-India blogs. With the angry
youth congregating on social network forums like Facebook, have the protests
moved from the streets to the cyberworld?*
**
It is a cause for concern. Though we spend 010,000 crore a year [on
Kashmir], you have not been able to win hearts and minds. It is not just
development. There are roads; the rail link is coming. [But] we have not
been able to reach out to people much. [The reasons are] tied up to
Partition, Pakistan, the Islamist agenda and the dragging out of Pandits.
All these have contributed to a feeling of alienation. In the last few
months, the anger has been substantial. Kashmiris feel hurt and humiliated
because of checking [on the roads]. A man has to go through checking thrice
between home and office. They could have done without many of them. Maybe we
have not been able to reach out to people; [we have been] reaching out to
the government. There is a subtle difference.

*Is the stuff coming out on the internet a cause for worry?*
**
We are monitoring it. People like Masarat and Asiya Andrabi [gather] groups
of people around [the aggrieved people] to keep a sense of anger and
[express] grievances. At the same time there are Kashmiri students who asked
me, why haven’t you cracked down on those who are creating the problems.
They are the silent majority. There has been stone throwing on their houses,
too.

*But there has been a radicalisation of youth of late.*
**
This is a trend. There are a number of madrasas and mosques where teachers
from [faraway] Uttar Pradesh and other places work. Radicalisation is the
result of a worldwide phenomenon. It is there all across the ?country.

*There is a growing sympathy for the stone-thrower. Is it not a dangerous
trend?*
**
Who is the stone-pelter? I have hundreds of CRPF men in hospitals with
broken bones or missing eyes. This is never reported. Reporting in Kashmir
is one-sided. No one exposes such things, and if you do you will be
literally wiped out.
Yes, you have to reach out. [But] overall, terrorism has come down. We could
take the Army out of some populated areas and reduce the Central
paramilitary forces... and strengthen the Jammu and Kashmir police by
several thousands which can manage the urban areas. This will also help in
creating employment.

There has been no problem in Ladakh or Jammu. It is basically in Srinagar,
Shopian, Anantnag and Sopore. These places are in the news, and it looks
like the whole of Kashmir is burning. In rural areas people are going by
their daily routine. I have faith that there will be a substantial political
move and a move forward in Kashmir. We have had the best Amarnath yatra.
Tourism has grown 85 per cent over the last year. When things start getting
good, they [terrorists] will create problems. If the houseboats are full and
the taxis are plying and people are making a lot of money, no one will want
jihad.