The Indian Express ‘Investigation’ On Kashmir: IE Gets It Wrong
The Indian Express report titled ‘Sacking staff, denying police approval part of clampdown in J&K; L-G says based on evidence’ was published by the prestigious national daily on August 8 under the label ‘Express Investigation’. It is a classic case of an investigation gone wrong.
The report carries a double byline. Bashaarat Masood and Deeptiman Tiwary. The bottom of the report says: With P Vaidyanathan Iyer in Srinagar.
No Kashmiri is surprised that Deeptiman Tiwary and P Vaidyanathan Iyer have entirely misread Kashmir as part of their ‘investigation’. Kashmir is one of the finest case studies into intrigue and subterfuge.
What is surprising is that Bashaarat Masood, a Kashmiri, should have been part of this askew report titled ‘investigation’.
Whatever grievances the Kashmiris may have against the Centre, there are some pivotal truths that are acknowledged across Kashmir. There is huge appreciation among the people for the dismissal of government employees who were found to be involved in activities prejudicial to the interests of the nation, such as involvement in terror-related actions.
Why is this? Why are the people demanding more such evidence-based dismissals? This is because such duplicitous government employees played an instrumental role in keeping Kashmir’s terror machines running, which needed more and more Kashmiri blood to stay operational.
It is strange to see the State being maligned and villainized for upholding sovereignty and safeguarding national interest
Kashmiris Want Decisive Action Against Terror Forces To Continue
The Indian Express (IE) report cites some instances to say that “these constitute an aspect of the Union Territory administration’s security clampdown that has left many families in the lurch.”
Every Kashmiri knows that thousands of families of law-abiding citizens were devastated and left in the lurch because of the actions of a few who propagated terror. The state has moved in to protect the life and property of its vast constituency of law-abiding citizens by clamping down on forces of terror.
And yet, when the State takes decisive action against the terror players and squeezes their space, highly respected media houses like The Indian Express choose to play the outrage game.
Villainizing The State
The IE report says that after a government employee is dismissed for sabotaging national security, “their travel documents are impounded, or they are put on the Look Out Circular (LoC) to prevent them for taking up a job outside the country. These employees lose their post-retirement benefits, including gratuity and pension.” One fails to understand the grouse here. It is strange to see the State being maligned and villainized for upholding sovereignty and safeguarding national interest.
The Indian Express report quotes J&K Director General of Police Mr Rashmi Ranjan Swain on the security measures. “One cannot find fault if the State takes steps to quarantine itself from insider threat after a person is assessed to be vulnerable to duress or inducement of a national security adversary,” said DGP Swain.
This is exactly what the IE report chooses to find fault with.
When the state moves in to reinforce its authority and to eliminate terror forces, the process shall not feature tranquil, serene moves by either side. The defensive action of the state and the offensive exertions of the terror forces shall collide. It is the State which must emerge as the commanding and authoritative force in all battles.
The IE report expresses outrage over the dismissal of government employees including “a senior Kashmir University professor, a computer scientist, a woman civil servant, principal of a higher secondary school, assistant professors and police personnel.”
Kashmir is a close-knit society with flourishing social communication. Long before the government moves in to take punitive action against an individual, the society is familiar with the individual’s actions and antecedents. The actions of the person are whispered and discussed among people, and there is disbelief that the state has allowed such errant action to continue for so long.
‘My Son Will Be A Sarkari Employee, Your Son Should Fight For Azadi’
Kashmir offers a distinctive case study into manipulation and deception stratagems used by terror forces to influence individual decision-making. During the terror years, what was seen as the exercise of personal choice was instead a complex play of socio-religious indoctrination and subtle exploitative persuasion.
The bottom line of the manipulation was this: My son shall be a government employee; your son should fight for ‘azadi’. This unarticulated truth moved the levers of Kashmir society.
With no private industry thanks to conflict, government jobs are highest in the pecking order in Kashmir, and the most coveted in the marriage market.
The statistics are unequivocal. Now, Kashmiri kids are not dying in violent street protests that were funded and engineered. The State has reined in terror elements. The kids were radicalized by influencers in diverse spheres and were led to death so that conflict remained Kashmir’s most thriving industry.
A Srinagar-based journalist recalls the time when his family got worried that his elder son, who was studying engineering, started showing signs of becoming a jihadi. One day, sitting with his neighbour on a quiet winter evening, the journalist told him that he was feeling afraid that his son would become a militant.
The journalist was startled that his neighbour, a government employee, showered him with blessings and congratulations that his son would fight for ‘azadi’. When the neighbour was done with the benedictions, the journalist asked him, “Manzoor Saab, you have three children. Your son is in the health department. Your daughter is a government teacher. And your younger son is doing a professional course at SKUAST (Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology). What is the plan for him? Will he look for a government job?”
“Yes of course,” replied Manzoor Saab (name changed to protect privacy). The journalist then gently responded, “And you are full of blessings that my son, who is doing engineering, should fight for azadi. Why didn’t you shower this blessing upon your sons that they should be militants?”
The “Struggle For Freedom” Was Pakistan’s Proxy War Against India
The Indian Express has expressed outrage at the dismissal of 74 government employees “without conducting an inquiry, giving them a chance to explain their position or even informing them why.” The employees were dismissed from service after collection of overwhelming evidence of their culpability.
The action was taken under Article 311(2)(C) of the Constitution that empowers the government to dismiss an employee without giving an opportunity to the individual to present a defence.
Importantly, while the Express has chosen outrage, Kashmiris have greatly appreciated this initiative of the government. It is common discussion across Kashmir that more such government employees who were involved in terror-related activities should be identified and dismissed if irrefutable evidence of their culpability is found.
Kashmiris realized that what was packaged as the “struggle for freedom” was Pakistan’s proxy war against India
Kashmiris Paid For Pakistan’s Proxy War With Their Blood
There is a famous dialogue from the 1956 Hollywood classic, The Ten Commandments. The Egyptian leader Rameses declares, “The city that he builds shall bear my name, the woman that he loves shall bear my child. So let it be written, so let it be done.”
The dialogue was Kashmir’s reality for over 30 years. While India bankrolled and financed everything from roads and bridges to schools and hospitals in Kashmir, Kashmiri children were taught to look upon Pakistan as their nation.
It is only in the last few years that Kashmiris woke up to the truth, after being devastated by the conflict, and suffering untold destruction of life and property. They realized that what was packaged as the “struggle for freedom” was Pakistan’s proxy war against India. Kashmiris paid the price for this fraud with their blood.
It is common now to find Kashmiri mothers offering prayers of gratitude that they do not have to worry about the safety and security of their children when they go out of home for study, work or leisure.
Kashmiris are breaking off false stereotypes that typecast them as an oppressed people. Some media houses insist on painting Kashmir in colours of oppression, but the people have moved on.
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