Shah could never get rid of the sobriquet, despite the low profile he maintained for the rest of his life. Nor could the memory of the Gul Curfews etched in the psyche of Kashmir be wiped off.
By contrast Omar Abdullah has by far exceeded his uncle in curfews, both declared and undeclared. But Abdullah is lucky to not have earned the sobriquet, so far. Probably because, repeated curfews are not the only things associated with the regime. The regime of the youngest chief minister has been marked more by the killing of young and children, and brutal policing of protests. Something that may remain associated with his image for a long time. Yet the chief minister seems to add more records to his book. Contrary to his image of a media friendly ruler who prefers transparency and accountability, Abdullah is turning out to be a nightmare for fourth estate in Kashmir. It is a different question that for national Indian media he continues to be a darling with the love reciprocated magnanimously.
But in Kashmir valley, media is seeing one of the worst crackdowns in decades. For the second time in just three months newspapers in the Valley suspended their publication under severe restrictions. This time newspapers failed to hit the stands for more than a week. Local news channels are blacked out at the whims of state. The curfew passes issued to mediamen are frequently cancelled and routinely dishonoured by the police. Scribes are beaten to pulp. Publishing houses are subject to restrictions that were spared even in the turbulent 1990’s.
Again from the man who became the first politician to launch a blog from the state, we have seen curbs on cellphone services, and new media. Text messaging is now blocked for months, and we have seen police threatening Facebook users for uploading videos exposing police brutality. While a pass issued by the state torn to shreds by a policeman on street reflects on the authority of the government itself, the repression of media in Kashmir also reflects badly on the country that claims to be the world’s largest democracy.
What else could expose the hypocrisy than 39 parliamentarians visiting the “no newspaper state” stayed for two days, and left without bothering to even talk about the media gag. No democratic ruler can afford such a media gag, and the brazen manner used here, shows there are no pretensions either.
