[Reader-list] Lies, bad lies and "super-terrorism"

Prabhakar Singh prabhakardelhi at yahoo.com
Sun Aug 31 18:37:58 IST 2008


It is a well-planned mismanagement of Kashmir affairs for electoral gains by the political parties.
Prabhakar



----- Original Message ----
From: "radhikarajen at vsnl.net" <radhikarajen at vsnl.net>
To: Shivam Vij शिवम् विज् <mail at shivamvij.com>
Cc: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Sunday, 31 August, 2008 1:01:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Lies, bad lies and "super-terrorism"

Right noises have to be made at the right time, right. ? We have a nominated Prime minister, Home Minister, who have no compulsions to perform for the national interest as long as they keep their appointing authority happy. Discarded by the electorate, peformance or lack of it does not effect these home minister or prime minister as they continue to be in power at the pleasure of their "high command".And there are some channels which get right kind of advertisements from "state" like the congratulatory message of Agriculture minister to farmers who are committing suicides for want of right price for the farm produce, . delhi government talks of delhi dreams only in one channel for the last 67 days  for the favours of sting. !

----- Original Message -----
From: Shivam Vij शिवम् विज् <mail at shivamvij.com>
Date: Friday, August 29, 2008 8:19 pm
Subject: [Reader-list] Lies, bad lies and "super-terrorism"
To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>

> Given below are two articles, one that is a PTI report put out this
> morning and the other a media analysis. As the days pass, I think the
> propaganda machinery of the Indian state is getting the better of the
> Delhi media.
> best
> shivam
> 
> o o o o
> 
> ISI expands network from J&K to South; talks 'super terrorism'
> 
> NEW DELHI, AUG 29 (PTI)
> 
> Terror groups backed by Pakistan's ISI could use chemical, biological,
> nuclear or radiological weapons against India initiating a form of
> "super terrorism", warns a Union Home Ministry report.
> 
> With ISI spreading its tentacles in the country from Jammu and Kashmir
> to down South, the report spoke of active terror modules mushrooming
> in Bihar, Assam and West Bengal where the sleeper cells have been
> assigned with specific targets.
> 
> In its section on terror groups and weapons of mass destruction, the
> report said "super terrorism in this perspective can be defined as
> projected future use of chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological
> weapons by terrorist groups."
> 
> The report said Indo-Nepal border in Bihar is being used for smuggling
> of arms, explosives, fake currency into the country, while the agency
> was focusing on Uttar Pradesh to fund Madrasas and recruit youngsters
> for subversive activities.
> 
> South India too is an important part of the overall ISI game-plan
> since it is being targeted to recruit unemployed youths.
> 
> The report also mentions that ISI is trying to revive Punjab militancy
> and form new anti-India groups in the state.
> 
> While Maharashtra has been a victim of underworld gangs which have
> strong links with ISI, the report mentions that the Pakistan agency
> was also trying to liaison with the underworld in Gujarat and are
> using the coastal line for transporting arms and drug running
> operations.
> 
> o o o o
> 
> No shrill blame game in the media
> 
> Overall, the Indian media did not buy the thesis that the ISI was
> behind the chronic unrest in Kashmir, and Pakistan's press was too
> preoccupied with the country's internal woes to focus much on Kashmir.
> SHUBHA SINGH contributes to the Hoot's Indo-Pak monitoring, with
> inputs from SEVANTI NINAN
> 
> Posted Wednesday, Aug 20 18:10:15, 2008
> http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=3281&mod=1&pg=1§ionId=8&valid=true
> 
> Partly because of the  ongoing peace process and partly on account of
> Pakistan's continuing internal turmoil, Indo-Pak accusations over
> Kashmir don't register the same shrill pitch in the media that they
> used to even a couple of years ago.  Even as Kashmir has been aflame,
> the accusations about the ISI's hand surfaced briefly, and were
> highlighted only in passing, not even on the front pages of
> newspapers.
> 
> A qualitative difference in the Indo-Pak media rhetoric on Kashmir,
> was discernable over the period of six weeks or more than Jammu and
> Kashmir has been burning. Thanks to television, it grabbed headlines
> for a few days when bureaucrats and politicians in both countries made
> statements.
> 
> Given Pakistan's continuing internal turmoil, its media and government
> found little time to up the ante on Kashmir. Such reactions as there
> were, were voiced only after the firing took lives in the Valley. Dawn
> carried a front page news report from Jawed Naqvi with the heading
> 'Uprising in Kashmir: 12 protestors shot dead'. Its editorial on
> August 13 mildly rebuked the Pakistani government for not reacting to
> the situation in Kashmir, but added that every gain that eases
> tensions should be appreciated. It said: "As India struggles with its
> Kashmir woes, the Pakistan government has remained remarkably 
> quiet on
> this front. This despite the fact that New Delhi has accused Pakistan
> of LoC violations and warned that the composite dialogue is on shaky
> ground. In light of this, the statement by a spokesman of the Jammu
> and Kashmir government predicting cross-LoC trade by October 
> should be
> welcomed. In fraught times, every small gain in CBMs, that help to
> ease tensions, should be appreciated."
> 
> As the agitation intensified, Pakistani politicians' commented on the
> developments across the border, drawing sharp reactions from the
> Indian government. On both sides the statements were picked up by the
> media and reported, creating headlines on "interference" for a few
> days. The impact was much greater on television than in print.
> 
> The flurry of words which the Indian Express described as the "spat
> between India and Pakistan" generated three statements in quick
> succession from the spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs
> Ministry. The spokesperson took note of a Pakistan Senate resolution
> on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, calling it "gross interference
> in India's internal affairs" and suggesting that "the Senate should
> attend to issues where it has a locus standi." This was followed by
> statements on August 12 and 13 reacting to statements from the
> Pakistani Foreign Minister and the Foreign Office spokesperson,
> describing Islamabad's call for international involvement in Kashmir
> as "gratitutous and illegal".
> 
> The Indian and Pakistani newspapers faithfully reported the statements
> without much commentary and even the editorials did not have the fiery
> passages that used to colour the edits a few years ago. Indian TV
> channels gave greater time to the Indian responses to remarks made in
> Pakistan while the Indian newspapers carried the Ministry of External
> Affairs statement in a few short paragraphs.
> 
> One reason for this widely differing level of coverage could be as The
> Times of India pointed out because "the MEA's angry outbursts were
> made late in the evening against Pakistan's statements made early in
> the morning, making the Indian anger look like an afterthought." The
> Times News Network added that "Pakistan has kept up the verbal
> pressure on India on Jammu and Kashmir. Understandably, India has been
> smarting and certainly a lot of smoke and fire has been belching out
> of the government, telling off Pakistan exactly where to get off."
> 
> While the Indian newspapers did not give much space to the serial
> statements, the firing along the Line of Control was an issue of
> greater concern. The Times of India wrote on Aug 12: 'Despite India
> asking Pakistan to respect the border ceasefire Pakistan continues to
> indulge in cross border firing." It further added that there was a
> growing feeling that the spurt in cross border firings and
> infiltrations indicated that the Pak army was pushing its 'Kashmir
> agenda' to regain loss of credibility it had suffered in its
> counter-terrorism efforts in the North West Frontier Province. Indian
> Express had a story with the headline: "After exchange of sweets, Pak
> rockets hit BSF outpost" on August 16. The paper's Jammu
> correspondent, Arun Sharma wrote that "within hours of sending sweets
> to their Indian counterparts, the Pakistani Rangers allegedly greeted
> Border Security Force personnel with rockets fired at BSF outposts."
> 
> However, even this coverage got matter-of-fact display. The 
> reports on
> firing across the LoC were not played up, and were placed on inside
> pages. The TOI had a three column report on n inside page on 
> August 12
> which said that Pakistan was pushing Kashmir agenda to regain the
> credibility it lost in the North West Frontier Province. The Indian
> Express's story on firing across the LoC on August 16, after an
> exchange of sweets, was carried on page 3.
> 
> The daily protests and demonstrations in Jammu and Kashmir filled the
> Indian news pages, while the Pakistan newspapers depended on news
> agencies reports on the agitation in the Valley. The hoary ISI 
> hand in
> the Jammu and Kashmir developments emerged in an item in the Times of
> India of August 14 that quoted unnamed intelligence officials saying
> that 'the economic blockade is a myth created by Pakistan's ISI to
> project the Hurriyat as true representative of the Kashmiri 
> people.' A
> story was topped by a five-column headline with the query: "Blockade
> staged to aid ISI cause?' and the strapline "Pak Agency Trying To Help
> Hurriyat Mould Public Opinion In Its Favour". But again the display
> was not attention getting, the story  was on the top of page 13, its
> nation page which carried a slug 'J&K on the boil'.
> 
> TOI's editorial said: "Here's Islamabad trying hard to set up its
> house in order. A shaky coalition government has little time or energy
> to open a Kashmir front as it fends of Islamic radicals within and on
> its northwestern border... For the Pakistani army as well for the ISI,
> this is an opportunity served on a platter to divert attention –
> domestic and global – from the country's internal problems towards the
> Kashmir issue once again."  Translation, the Pakistan government is
> not trying to play the Kashmir card—the army and the ISI on their own
> are.
> 
> The same day, Hindustan Times Foreign Editor, Amit Barua wrote in a
> news analysis: 'India has scored an own goal in Kashmir'. "It is our
> own mess. We can't even blame the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
> Directorate of Pakistan." By firing and killing unarmed protestors on
> the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad road on Monday, security forces have added
> fat to the fire raging on the Amarnath land issue in both the Valley
> and Jammu…. The land issue has again provided separatists in Kashmir
> and fundamentalists in Jammu a handle to rekindle their
> constituencies, Barua wrote. This was on a page 10, devoted to 
> news on
> Kashmir developments, with the headline – 'A Cascade of Errors'. Not
> all of the Indian media was buying the ISI line.
> 
> Enter Musharraf
> 
> On August 14, newspapers reported on President Pervez Musharraf's much
> anticipated first appearance after the call to impeach him. The Hindu
> newspaper's correspondent in Islamabad, Nirupama Subramanian writing
> on President Musharraf's speech in page one, first lead  story
> focusing on the embattled leader's call for reconciliation within
> Pakistan. She also wrote: "Gen Musharraf's short speech also included
> a condemnation of India for 'human rights violations' in Kashmir 
> and a
> declaration that 'Kashmir runs in the blood of every Pakistani." But
> the story's headline was "Musharraf calls for reconciliation.
> 
> Another report in an inside page referred to government resolution
> adopted unanimously in the National Assembly that condemned India for
> the killing of Hurriyat leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz and several other
> Kashmiris by the Indian security forces. The resolution called upon
> the UN and human rights organisations to use their good offices to
> urge India to stop atrocities against unarmed civilian Kashmiris. The
> Indian Express gave President Musharraf's reference to India in the
> speech an across-the-page headline on its foreign page: "Musharraf
> brings up Kashmir in I-Day speech" But the report was agency, a Press
> Trust of India story which said: "In an apparent bid to divert
> attention away from the impending impeachment threat looming over him,
> President Musharraf condemned 'human rights violations' in Jammu and
> Kashmir."
> 
> But on that it played Kashnmir on page one,in a  front page report
> headlined 'Midnight protests rock Srinagar'. This story made a passing
> reference to Pakistan: 'Meanwhile, the spat between India and Pakistan
> over the J&K situation got uglier today after New Delhi issued its
> third statement in a week, describing Islamabad's call for
> international involvement in Kashmir as "gratuitous and illegal"'.
> 
> On August 15, the day after Pakistan's Independence Day, the Hindu
> wrote that Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani "sought to bring down the
> temperature (between India and Pakistan) with an assurance that his
> government was committed to resolving all issues with India in a just
> and peaceful manner through negotiations." Mr Gilani made a reference
> to Kashmir, which the Hindu characterised as 'mild and steered clear
> of the present unrest in the Valley." The Asian Age and the Indian
> Express reported External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee response
> to a TV news channel that Pakistan's comments on the development in
> Jammu and Kashmir did not create the right atmosphere to carry on the
> bilateral dialogue. Both newspapersalso said that India had rejected
> comments made by the secretary general of the OIC (Organisation of
> Islamic Conference) condemning police firing in Kashmir. Times of
> India's headline said: 'Pranab asks Pak not to meddle in India's
> affairs'.
> 
> On Aug 16, Indian newspapers carried short reports on Indian Prime
> Minister Manmohan Singh's reference to Pakistan in his Independence
> Day speech. They also wrote about Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani's
> phone call to greet Mr Manmohan Singh on the occasion. The Hindu
> referred to Mr Manmohan Singh's comment during the telephone
> conversation that both sides should refrain from making harsh
> statements. In contrast, the Pakistani papers took Mr Manmohan Singh's
> remarks as conveying a more pointed message. The Nation, on Aug 16 had
> a headline: "Singh warns Pakistan to control terrorism". It said:
> "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used his Independence Day speech
> on Friday to warn Pakistan to rein in terrorism, as peace talks
> between the two countries falter 61 years after they were divided."
> 
> Pak coverage
> 
> Among Pakistan newspapers The News stuck to agency reports, and The
> Nation took a slightly harder line than Dawn, overall. And raised the
> issue of Kashmiri freedom "from the Indian yoke." Its  editorial on
> August 13 was called: 'Indian Highhandedness' The edit said: "The
> situation in the disputed Valley seems once again to be deteriorating,
> the responsibility for which very obviously lies with the government's
> mismanagement. There has been an upsurge of violence against the
> people by the Indian security forces….. Last month, the Kashmiris were
> protesting against the illegal transfer of hundreds of acres of land
> to a Hindu Shrine Board for building structures for Hindu yatrees. The
> subsequent riots that rocked the Valley were among the biggest in
> Kashmir's history. What the Indian government needs to understand is
> that its approach towards the issue is basically erroneous. Economic
> blockade cannot smother the Kashmiris' spirit of freedom from the
> Indian yoke."
> 
> The next day an editorial in the Nation castigated the Indian security
> forces. It said: "In an act of ruthless repression, the Indian
> security forces indiscriminately fired at one of the biggest protest
> rallies in Held Kashmir's history, with participants variously
> computed between 100,000 and 250,000, and shot down prominent Hurriyat
> leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz and several others near Uri on Monday…. The
> blockade has put an end to all trade with the outside world, including
> that of fruit with which the Valley virtually overflows. That the
> authorities have not bothered to break it, but let all economic
> activity in the Valley stifle, suggests their callous attitude towards
> the people for their 'sin' of agitating for the right to
> self-determination….The blockade has put an end to all trade with the
> outside world, including that of fruit with which the Valley virtually
> overflows. That the authorities have not bothered to break it, but let
> all economic activity in the Valley stifle, suggests their callous
> attitude towards the people for their 'sin' of agitating for the right
> to self-determination."
> 
> The paper carried a statement by a former Pakistani ambassador and
> senior aide to the UN Secretary General, that Pakistan should raise
> its concern on the situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir at the
> United Nations. Mr Yusuf Buch, described as an expert on Kashmir,
> said, "The Prime Minister of Pakistan should immediately contact the
> Secretary General of the United Nations and, both in conversation on
> the telephone and in letter which he should ask to be circulated 
> as a
> document of the Security Council, emphasize that the current situation
> deserves to be viewed in its human reality and not through the prism
> of calcified attitudes of inaction stemming from considerations of
> power politics."
> 
> Dawn's headline on August 15 stated: 'Widespread protests test India's
> hold on Kashmir'. It report said: Police shot dead a Muslim protester
> as huge crowds shouting "we want freedom" took to the streets of
> occupied Kashmir on Thursday over a land row that is testing New
> Delhi's hold on the troubled Himalayan region.
> 
> An editorial in  the Dawn newspaper criticized the Pakistani
> government for backing off from its plans to oppose the nuclear
> safeguards agreement at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
> It said: "The Bush administration launched its own campaign to
> dissuade Pakistan from any effort to thwart the Indo-US game plan… Our
> ambassador in Washington, too, according to well-informed sources,
> pitched in, recommending that we do nothing to upset the Bush
> administration's advice and, instead, terminate all efforts to counter
> the Indo-US move, at both the IAEA and the NSG, which is to meet to
> consider the US draft to allow nuclear trade with India. To the
> Foreign Office's disappointment, the entire campaign was called off,
> causing deep dismay at this abject surrender of national interests."
> 
> Pakistani newspapers had a large number of developments with Pakistan
> to report in the last week. On August 14, Dawn had six items on page
> one detailing militant strikes in Lahore (8 killed), villagers kill
> six militants, clashes between rival tribes in Kurram agency, 24
> killed – militants stop people from leaving Bajaur, six killed 19
> injured in Balouchistan attacks. Other stories were Sindh assembly
> seeks impeachment and 'Dozens injured in Kashmir protests'.  The
> Kashmir story therefore, was an also ran.
> 
> Television
> 
> Indian television channels, Times Now in particular, gave more
> prominence than Indian newspapers did to accusations from across the
> border. All major channels showed the Ministery of external affairs
> spokesman reading out his statements referring to Pakistan's
> interference on consecutive days. Given the fact of constant repeat
> telecasts, the message registered with anyone who tuned in to any of
> the major satellite and cable news channels.
> 
> President Musharraf's references to India in his speech on the eve of
> Pakistan's independence day played far more effectively across TV
> channels in India than in the newspapers. Heard and seen they had
> greater impact than reporting in cold print. His sentences help
> television news channels flog the "interference" angle for all it was
> worth. He made an emotional pitch, stating that Kahmir was every in
> Pakistani's "dil ka dhadkan." (heartbeat) and that the killings there
> were most regrettable.
> 
> Times Now in particular chose to flog this:" Musharraf is trying 
> to be
> a Pakistani hero for one last time." Later anchor Arnab Goswami talked
> of "Open, obvious meddling from across the border" and repeated that
> description. He dredged up the ISI bogey: "Is the ISI behind the
> blockade myth?" he asked.
> 
> In a discussion on NDTV 24x7 however, when asked about the role of
> Pakistan by anchor Barkha Dutt,  journalist Prem Shankar Jha, a guest
> on the show, said "Pakistan had nothing to do with what happened  from
> July onward."
> 
> Overall both Hindi and English channels ran President Musharraf's
> statements over several times, not just the first day, but also till
> the 11 pm bulletin the following night.  Channels kept telling their
> viewers, "Musharraf raises Kashmir issue."
> 
> But shortly after came the President's resignation, and  the focus
> turned and stayed, on Pakistan's internal problems.
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