Mohammad Shehzad

In the first week of October, a group of 19 Pakistani journalists from Muzaffarabad [capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir, referred to as the Azad or free Kashmir] and other parts of Pakistan visited the Indian administered Kashmir [referred to as the 'Occupied' or 'held' Kashmir among the official circles] on the invitation of the Indian chapter of the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma).

It was the first visit of its kind in the 57-year history of India and Pakistan. This visit is supposed to be followed by a return visit of media persons from Jammu and Kashmir and other places to Muzaffarabad, Gilgit, Islamabad and Lahore from November 19 to 26. The purpose of the visit was to provide journalists an opportunity to observe the on-ground situation in Kashmir and report the facts without any exaggeration-whether every third woman is raped by the Indian army; every Kashmiri is tortured in the police custody; every tree in Kashmir is burning due to explosive, etc as propagated by the state run Pakistani media and the rightwing media publications.

The visit was viewed very negatively-as expected-by the jihadi, right wing and the vernacular press. Abdul Hadi Ahmed wrote an opinion piece in Daily Ummat, Oct 12. [Ummat supports the ideology of Jamat-e-Islami.] Ahmed says:

'The Pakistani journalists visiting Kashmir are liberal and secular men and woman who believe in free sex and drinking alcohol. They work for the Jang Group of Publications that has no principles. The track record of the group is, it has been acting as the mouthpiece of every government in power.'

'Only such journalists were included in the group that were not pro-freedom movement in Kashmir. It was also assured that during their visit, they would not utter a single word that shows sympathy with the Kashmiris.'

'The Kashmiris were shocked to hear Imtiaz Alam who said that the Jammu should be given to India and the valley to Pakistan! It was a ludicrous statement. That is the reason Aasia Andrabi boycotted the meeting with the Pakistani journalists.'

'The journalists were sent to Kashmir on the invitation of the Indian Home Ministry to hurt the Kashmiris. After eating luncheons and dinners hosted by our killers, will they be able to write the truth about? Will they write that Kashmir has turned into a military garrison? It is the living place of 30,000 widows and 40,000 orphans and 100,000 graves of martyrs. The fact is, Pakistan has changed its stance on Kashmir under US pressure.'

'Pakistani journalists were 'prisoners' in the valley as rightly said by Yasin Malik (Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front). They were allowed to meet only such people that New Delhi wanted them to meet. The journalists were not ready to hear the voice of the Kashmiri students who had been chanting the slogans such as 'we want accession with Pakistan'. Such students were introduced as some miscreants. The journalists did not pay attention to a Sikh member of the Kashmir High Court Bar Council Onkar Singh who chanted slogans in favor of freedom and proved that Kashmiri Sikhs had also joined the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri Muslims.'

In the October 13th issue of Ummat, Hafiz Mohammad Idrees wrote: 'The journalists' visit to Kashmir amounts to Pakistan's condoning the Indian occupation of Kashmir. Because of its political compulsions and US pressure, the Pakistan government wants to wash its hands off Kashmir.'

In the October 17th issue of Jasarat, Arif Bahar wrote: 'Pakistani journalists are fond of wine and woman. (What about women journalists???) The Indians offer them these two things and then make fun of them saying, look at these Muslims. They want Kashmir on the basis of Islam. They are alcoholic and womanizers. Thus, the Indians spearhead propaganda against Islam and Pakistan to mislead the Kashmiris. The Indians tell the Kashmiris that they want accession with Pakistan because they think it is a Muslim country. The Indians present the pictures and video films of Pakistani journalists to the Kashmiris and tell them that they should see with their own eyes the sinful Pakistanis.'

'Often times, Pakistani journalists copy the Indians. They would drink and dance with them. They forget that Pakistan cannot beat India in terms of drinking, womanizing and dancing because these things (wine, women and dance) are part of the Indian religion and culture. So we should stop acting like a copycat and represent the true Islam with our deeds.'

In the October 21st issue of Friday Special, Arif Bahar wrote: 'After 56 years, Pakistan has ultimately accepted the status quo in the Occupied Kashmir by sending delegations after delegations in the valley. Earlier, sending a delegation to the Occupied Kashmir was considered acknowledging Indian sovereignty on Kashmir. India and the west put pressure on Pakistan to send delegations to the Occupied Kashmir under the cover of SAARC and thus acknowledge the status quo. The game is to pave way for declaring the LoC as permanent border. What India could not achieve after fighting three wars with Pakistan will now be achieved in the name of SAARC.'

'SAFMA's visit to the Occupied Kashmir was arranged by Mufti Saeed's government. He is the biggest proponent of visits of the two countries in Kashmir. He thinks that by opening up Kashmir for the Pakistanis, India could prove that 'Kashmir' is not so 'occupied' as it is perceived in Pakistan. Islam is not that much in danger in Kashmir as it is propagated in Pakistan. And the Hindus have not prevailed upon the Muslim culture.'

'India would not allow Amnesty and Human Rights Watch to visit Kashmir but it allowed the Pakistani journalists to visit it. Had Pakistanis visited Kashmir at their own, they would have returned with a different perception. The Indian government wanted to apprise Pakistani journalists of the plight of the Kashmiri pundits and Dogras, not the Muslims'. Albeit, leaders like Yasin Malik, Fareeda Behanjee, Asia Indrabi and Syed Ali Shah Geelani were successful in expressing the sentiments of the Muslims. SAFMA's chief Imtiaz Alam had to admit that Kashmiri Muslims want only one thing i.e. freedom from the Indian occupation.'

The above views are extremely discouraging as well as outrageous. The good thing is, Safma is not demoralized with such views. Despite the fact, the views are venomous and malicious, Safma respects them. 'We have heard their sentiments. We comprehend them. As a professional journalist, it was very important for me to visit Kashmir to report the facts in an objective manner. I need access to ground realities. The only way was to go on Pakistani passport and the Indian visa. I had no other choice,' remarked Nusrat Javeed, Senior Correspondent, The News and an active office bearer of Safma.

When asked, will Safma try to covert such people who think that by sending journalists to J&K, Pakistan has acknowledged the Indian sovereignty over Kashmir, Javeed diplomatically said: 'I am a journalist. It is not my job to convert people. It is politicians job. I understand our visit has offended some people and we respect their sentiments."

Copyright ©2004 Mohammad Shehzad and Kashmir Times. About the author