By Asif Mahmood
The way we have been grappled with dirty politics is alarming. The core issues like Indian brutality in occupied Kashmir have unfortunately been sidestepped. This is the right time to reshape the contours of our national narrative.
I have just gone through a report titled ‘India’s impunity in Kashmir’ and the shocking facts therein have literally left me saddened and frustrated. With this frustration comes a crunch question to fore: where is our mainstream media? We must appreciate Kashmir Legal Forum for this insightful study.
In this era of information technology, India, through its state surveillance has deprived the people of Kashmir from their legal rights. The study reveals that “‘Indian state has used manifold resources, both human and technological, to deploy a “strategic and comprehensive programme” as part of its counter-insurgency mechanism, “leading to fear and its internalization.” Although Indian state has been intensifying the mass surveillance architecture over a decade but electronic snooping has seen a striking expansion with the surge of civil uprisings. Surveillance in general has always been the vital component of ruling dispensation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The existence of electronic surveillance units in different areas have added to the already existing visible military presence in controlling the Kashmiri landscape. Physical trailing, phone tapping and house searches are trusted methods of operation that Indian Armed forces have relied on for decades in all types of government regimes. The emergence of new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) surveillance apparatus linked to the proliferation of digital data has led to rapid changes in how surveillance works and when it applies. There is more communication data available for scrutiny than ever before.
The internet has significantly amplified the amount of transactional data to be had for individuals everywhere. Unsurprisingly, surveillance has become gradually more prevalent in Kashmir, such as tracking public sentiment through social media monitoring, surveilling protests and dissenting speech, monitoring individuals of interest (e.g., journalists, political opposition, government critics), and tracking political behavior. This phenomenon of heightened surveillance is substantiated by following events like for instance; Vasundhara Sirnate wrote in an article in The Hindu on November 2014: “An intelligence Bureau official stationed in Kashmir told me that they were tapping 10 lakh phones in Kashmir alone by 2014.
In a press release on 24 August 2015 J&K Police said that “the department launched Electronic Surveillance Unit in Anantnag district of Kashmir to check cybercrimes and track down the misuse of internet facilities, especially by terror outfits.” The authorities in Kashmir as reported by Uzma Falak in an article in Caravan perceive that the “surveillance aided technology is only a supplement and not a replacement to the human interface”.
While quoting the Director General of Police K. Rajendra Kumar, she wrote that: “Technologies have become obsolete. We are trying to upgrade systems with a futuristic vision. Right now, focus is to modernize police control rooms, CCTV networks and have mobile squads. I would like to have the entire area under the camera.” Kashmir Digits reported on October 2021, that “Kashmir valley will witness increased security in terms of electronic surveillance as drone grids and CCTV will be installed in places that witnessed killings, in coordination with Indian Army and Central Security agencies.”
Quoting news agency IANS, the report further stated “Jammu and Kashmir Police will be in lead role in preventing attacks in coordination with other security stakeholders and they have been asked to strengthen the human intelligence gathering on the ground. Round the clock electronic surveillance in vulnerable areas, better intelligence networks and strong patrolling on roads and highways around the cities to prevent entry and exit of the militants with more barricading and placing of security bunkers, will be the key features of the new security systems.” It is pertinent to mention that on February 2021, in a state-sponsored visit of foreign envoys, state authorities removed scores of army bunkers which were installed on 05 August 2019 to show normalcy in Kashmir valley.
On April 08, 2022 Kashmir Life reported that “the police headquarters of J&K have floated tenders for UT-wide CCTV integrated network system with a primary focus on procuring high resolution cameras having facilities of recognizing face, automatic number place, color unidentified objects and stone pelting. It further reported that 184 cameras will be installed in Kashmir for 43 sites while as 218 cameras will be installed in Jammu region at 119 sites. In another report by the Kashmir Walla on 6 September 2022, “4,257 CCTV cameras will be installed at 251 police stations and 88 police posts across Jammu and Kashmir.”
Moreover, surveillance is also heightened, through drones, snipers and deployment of policemen in plain clothes, roadside mobile bunkers and vehicles checked, during Independence Day and Republic Day of India besides also on VIP arrivals (Central Ministers, LG etc.) or movements. Srinagar Police on August 12, 2022 posted on twitter that “Aerial watch is being maintained in major markets of Srinagar city, looking for miscreants, criminals 5 and subversive elements.”
Kashmir Legal Forum has actually done a job our mainstream media should have done earlier. But as we are grappled with trivial political issues, a great job has been done by KLF. It must be appreciated.
