Kashmiris turn to Facebook to spread their message

SYED ALI SAFVI

SRINAGAR, July 31: Even as media men are restricted to freely move out of their offices to perform their professional duties, in the wake of curfew in Srinagar, one medium that is fast emerging as a medium for disseminating information is a popular social networking site, Facebook.

Facebook has thousands of users spread all across Kashmir valley who keep uploading latest photographs and videos of protests, and keep updating their status messages to keep the valleyites and millions of Facebook users across the globe updated about the latest happenings in the conflict ridden valley of Kashmir.

"Facebook has become the fastest medium of information in Kashmir. I seldom watch news channels because I get the news much quicker on FB. It is a good medium of getting the news, views and insights about the latest happenings," said Fiza, another Facebook user. "We all have opinions to share, and Facebook is a better medium for that."

Unable to digest the "anti-government" remarks being posted by some Facebook users on their 'walls', the state government had recently launched a crackdown against "active" Facebook users of the valley.

The users mainly from south Kashmir were reportedly summoned in police stations and threatened of "dire consequences" if they continued to post "pro-movement" comments.

The action had followed uploading video footages on Facebook and Youtube showing that the three Anantnag youths, who were killed in second week of July, were shot dead by police after chasing a group of protestors in the town.

"Both national and international media are biased and link the present crisis with terrorism," said Sanam, an active Facebook user. "Being a Kashmiri, we want to show a real picture of Kashmir to the outside world."

Kashmir has been reeling under tough restrictions for the last more than a month. There has been no let up in clashes and protests over a spate of civilian killings in the valley. So far, nearly two dozen Kashmiris, including two women, have lost their lives allegedly in police and CRPF action. Unable to quell the protestors, authorities have been clamping curfew in most parts of Kashmir valley.

Amidst high tension and restrictions, Kashmiri netizens, mostly youth, have found a platform in Facebook to vent their pent up anger.

"After SMS (short message service) was banned in Kashmir, Fabebook became a nice alternative to interact with friends and people from a cross section of society," said Javaid Rahi, an active Facebook user. "On FB (Facebook) one can put forth his/her point of view in a very polite manner."

Political observers also believe that Facebook provides a lot of informed discussions.

"There are both the sides of FB discussions. Many people paste links, write notes, and share information. Moreover, there is lot of discussion," said noted political analyst, Prof Rekha Chowdhary. "But then there is also the other side of it. FB is being used for hate campaigns and one can notice lot of abusive language, but it is an open space and one can make use of it by being selective about it."

Since 2008 Amarnath land row, the Net has emerged as a new medium for registering protests and resentment.