Editorial: Kashmir, media and citizens

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the apex decision-making body, has delivered a quick and cogent response to the recent violent attack on tourists in Kashmir. Besides taking symbolic steps regarding diplomatic relations and closing the integrated check post at Attari, the government held the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 “in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.” There’s consultation and a near political consensus emerging as opposition parties also reach out to the government, as it should be in a democratic republic.

But, if one were to tune into the television debates, one would assume that India is a divided country with an irresponsible and somehow complicit Opposition, and the nation is seeking “revenge” and Israel-style destruction of Kashmir. This is a gross distortion and a sad misrepresentation of reality. The television media has yet again gone overboard in whipping up sentiments that are deleterious to social sanity and unity, and the government’s image and initiatives on the global platform.

The social media cacophony, on the other hand, has a mutually symbiotic relationship with the television media, wherein one feeds into the other. Media experts and discerning members of the audience have pointed out how most television channels have been resorting to hyperbolic, high-decibel debates and unethical practices, like cutting off or muting uncomfortable ground reports, to further its pernicious narrative and divisive agenda.

While one should welcome citizen debates on government policy and actions, what happens on social media, especially in the wake of a sensitive crisis, can hardly be characterised as healthy citizen participation in public debate. Naïve and gullible citizens often fall for misinformation spread through WhatsApp and dangerous ideas peddled by highly organised, fully-funded, politically motivated IT cells on social media. In the present instance, the television-social media combo’s wildly irresponsible tango has resulted in amplifying two bad ideas that are inimical to democracy and secularism.

Firstly, due to the constant haranguing and orchestration by television and social media, the public discourse is filled with calls for “blood-thirsty” revenge and Israel-style destruction by the government and its armed forces. That model has been discredited and widely condemned by civilised sections across nations. This goes against the government’s stand, which, according to the CCS statement, is directing “all forces to maintain high vigil”. In a measured articulation, the CCS said that India will be unrelenting in the pursuit of “the perpetrators of the attack” who will be “brought to justice and their sponsors held to account” as it did in the recent extradition of Tahawwur Rana.

The second bad idea being promoted with mala fide and malicious intent is falsely linking the religious identity of the perpetrators with that of the people of Kashmir and in the rest of the country, and thus falsely holding the latter somehow responsible for the acts of the former. This thought process goes against the grain of secularism as enshrined in the Constitution and the basic tenets of humanism.

The media’s self-regulation mechanisms and the broader media and IT laws have not been effective, but the search should continue. As for the citizens, the silent majority needs to come together and voice its opposition in unequivocal terms, especially by disassociating with such platforms as the audience. Lastly, as mentioned in yesterday’s editorial, once the dust settles, the accountability of the government and its apparatus should be sought.