Kashmir: Truth Lost In Propaganda

Gowhar Geelani

Twirling his grey moustache General (retired) Bakshi said on NDTV’s programme Big Fight (Kashmir On The Edge: What's The Solution?) that the Indian army personnel opened fired on the civilians in north Kashmir’s frontier towns of Handwara and Kupwara only when the angry protesters set their bunker on fire and tried to attack the army. “Should our soldiers be bowing their head to say ‘come on, mob lynch us’ we will exercise restraint?” The audience gave him a rapturous round of applause.

The gullible Indian audience thought that the retired army general was speaking the gospel truth. But he was lying. It was a blatant lie. There was no one there to tell Mr. Bakshi or the seasoned anchor Mr. Vikram Chandra that the woman Raja Begum, who was one among the five civilians killed by the army, was attending her vegetable garden when she was hit by a bullet. She later succumbed to her injuries. She was not even part of the demonstrations. She was nowhere near the army bunker. Similarly, the young cricketer Nayeem, another boy who was mercilessly killed, was in the market to buy grocery when fired upon by the police. Yet another boy in Kupwara was killed when not a single stone was pelted. One more person Iqbal was the first one killed in cold blood in Handwara. That’s how blatant lies are spread by the army generals and Indian media.

That’s the propaganda: “Give a dog a bad name and hang him. Repeat a lie thousand times and it becomes truth.” That’s what India has been doing since 1947. Especially post 1989.

And now a new rabid poster boy of the Pandit community claims that Kashmiri Muslims are “Islamist goons”. This is how they have mastered the art of playing the victim card. Despite being the extensions of the mighty State their main contention is the narrative of victimhood to stay relevant in New Delhi. But relevance matters on the home turf. Their vicious propaganda and vitriolic commentary may pave way for them to get free ration, some temporary packages and sympathies in Delhi but they are losing the battle on the home soil: Kashmir.