Kashmir has been burning literally. This time it's the killing of the terrorist Burhan Wani. I am saddened by the loss of a 22 year old but at the same time happy that an enemy of the state has been eliminated. Media has been full of news and the protests have killed around 30 people till now. The media has been guilty to say the least of stoking fires. Be it the right, left or the center everybody's statements were highlighted and people were branded either patriots or traitors. A part of media helped create a larger than life persona of the slain soul while the other part which is trying to demonize the same person and thereby aiding the earlier narrative of the media sympathetic to the dead man.
But the question is the problem so simple that we can view it through a glass of black and white with no grey areas? As the discourse goes it's not that simple. This is a problem being brewed for the last 65 years or so. Yes its wrong to romanticize him but at the same time giving him the coverage disproportionate to his stature actually elevated him to the headlines that he never dreamt of while being alive. The armed forces have done a brilliant job but at the same time all the chest thumping not necessarily by them but the online trolls and the supporters have made things worse. A sign of a winner is that he is acknowledged even by the loser. Here the Indian state is the loser as the alienation of Kashmir continues. Some parts of the media have been quick to term the killing as extra-judicial. I agree that media has every right to claim to question the circumstances of the killing but what pains me is that the same people aren't uttering a single word that a mob killed a policeman on duty by pushing his car into a flowing river, I have just one question that why the media fails to report the stories where the armed forces despite being provoked and pelted with stones show immense restraint when dealing with such mobs? Whenever the armed forces do something and may it be legal or illegal media is ready to jump into the discussion and question the motives. The same media fails to aptly highlight the atrocities being carried out by the militants or doesn't talk about the human rights abuses being carried out by the so called freedom fighters? Doesn't the armed force personnel of our country have no rights? They also leave their families and go out everyday to their duty and pray to god that they do come back in one piece after a day's work?
I have friends who see the whole problem as a religious thing and the driving away of the Kashmiri pandits from the valley reinforces the divide along the religious lines . We have to admit that yes religion has a major role in this conflict and some bridges had been burnt by communities. While one claims the right to revenge the other claims years of oppression as the reason. Who is right is hard to justify but why is it that harmony can't prevail scares me. religion was never meant to divide people . It was always supposed to be a pillar , a support where a person could seek solace in times of happiness as well as strife. It was never meant to be a battle where "my religion is better than yours". Let the religious debates stop because its hurting us. Just to end this with a quote i read somewhere " The man and God met each other in heaven and both exclaimed Finally I met my creator"
But the question is the problem so simple that we can view it through a glass of black and white with no grey areas? As the discourse goes it's not that simple. This is a problem being brewed for the last 65 years or so. Yes its wrong to romanticize him but at the same time giving him the coverage disproportionate to his stature actually elevated him to the headlines that he never dreamt of while being alive. The armed forces have done a brilliant job but at the same time all the chest thumping not necessarily by them but the online trolls and the supporters have made things worse. A sign of a winner is that he is acknowledged even by the loser. Here the Indian state is the loser as the alienation of Kashmir continues. Some parts of the media have been quick to term the killing as extra-judicial. I agree that media has every right to claim to question the circumstances of the killing but what pains me is that the same people aren't uttering a single word that a mob killed a policeman on duty by pushing his car into a flowing river, I have just one question that why the media fails to report the stories where the armed forces despite being provoked and pelted with stones show immense restraint when dealing with such mobs? Whenever the armed forces do something and may it be legal or illegal media is ready to jump into the discussion and question the motives. The same media fails to aptly highlight the atrocities being carried out by the militants or doesn't talk about the human rights abuses being carried out by the so called freedom fighters? Doesn't the armed force personnel of our country have no rights? They also leave their families and go out everyday to their duty and pray to god that they do come back in one piece after a day's work?
I have friends who see the whole problem as a religious thing and the driving away of the Kashmiri pandits from the valley reinforces the divide along the religious lines . We have to admit that yes religion has a major role in this conflict and some bridges had been burnt by communities. While one claims the right to revenge the other claims years of oppression as the reason. Who is right is hard to justify but why is it that harmony can't prevail scares me. religion was never meant to divide people . It was always supposed to be a pillar , a support where a person could seek solace in times of happiness as well as strife. It was never meant to be a battle where "my religion is better than yours". Let the religious debates stop because its hurting us. Just to end this with a quote i read somewhere " The man and God met each other in heaven and both exclaimed Finally I met my creator"
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