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.

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