Gowhar Geelani, senior journalist, commentator and author, who writes for the international media on the Kashmir conflict and the “human rights excesses” committed by the armed forces, was recently prevented from leaving the country without any written orders. Excerpts from an interview he gave Frontline :
Why do you think you were prevented from leaving the country? Did the administration issue any orders prohibiting your travel and explaining its decision?
Since the officers at the immigration counter at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport did not give any specific reason—neither verbally nor in written communication—I would not know what the exact reason was. They just said they were following “orders from the seniors” and kept repeating aaj kal Kashmir ko lekar diqqat hai [you know how things are in Kashmir]. I can only assume that it is because of the current lockdown and unprecedented information blockade in Kashmir [that I was not given travel permission]. It appears that New Delhi and the Jammu and Kashmir administration are paranoid and probably think that anyone with articulation and voice who travels abroad, even on a professional or personal assignment, would expose the government’s Goebbelsian propaganda with respect to the current situation in Kashmir.
Since August 4 and after the unilateral abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, mobile phone and Internet connectivity have been suspended and children have not been to schools in Kashmir. That is the truth that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government wants to hide from Indians and the rest of the world.
Do you intend to take any legal recourse challenging the administration’s decision to hinder your free movement outside the country?
To challenge any decision, one first needs to know what the decision is all about. Given the fact that three former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, a top bureaucrat-turned-politician and over 4,000 Kashmiris have been placed under house arrest or kept in preventive detention, you can understand the gravity of the situation. However, lack of hope is no option. We cannot surrender our hope, our hope to exist, to live, to survive and to resist.
You were supposed to attend a symposium in Germany? What was the theme of the symposium? Do you believe it could in any way be considered prejudicial to the interests of the nation?
No, it was not a symposium or a conference. It was about my employment, my livelihood. I was to attend an eight-day-long editor’s training programme at Deutsche Welle’s Bonn headquarters after which I was to sign a contract with DW as editor. I was re-joining the organisation in which I had worked since October 2006. I am not sure if any journalist training programme to improve skill set in digital media is detrimental to the country or to any country in the world for that matter. Apart from my right to livelihood and employment, the decision to stop me from attending my training programme is also an assault on my right to travel and free speech.
You recently authored the book “Kashmir: Rage and Reason”, which was perceived to be critical of the establishment. What was the broader message of your book? Do you think it may be the reason the government restricted your movement out of India?
Well, the book has been received well. It is about the present and it goes back and forth to tell the larger Kashmir story in its context and historicity since 1931 and before. It has 10 chapters which deal with all aspects of the K-story, which include leadership crisis, path ahead, overall human rights situation, the departure of Pandits, cultural confluence among various faiths, new language of creative resistance, conflict literature, media wars, new age of militancy and much more. After all, I am just a storyteller who acts as a conduit, telling stories of real people on the ground.
What is the nature of the general environment in which the members of the intelligentsia/media in the Kashmir Valley work?
Indeed, journalists are sitting ducks in any conflict zone. By the very nature of our work, we can’t please all sides. A chapter in my book particularly deals with this subject and explains in detail how the journalist fraternity has suffered and continues to suffer in myriad ways in Kashmir.
There is a political vacuum in the Valley although the exercise of brute force has prevented a broader insurrection. How do you see the future unfolding?
Unfortunately, the future looks bleak, and darker days seem to be ahead. In an unprecedented information clampdown, Kashmiris might have to develop an old skill, that of training carrier pigeons to carry letters, in order to stay in touch with family and friends.
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