Kashmiri separatists have opened another front to take on the government. They are using information technology to promote their cause before international audience.
A free online video streaming service, www.youtube.com, carries dozens of video tapes highlighting alleged, crackdowns and siege by security forces, protest rallies, general shutdowns and revolutionary songs (in Kashmiri, English and Latin languages) visualised against Kashmiri backdrop. The videos have been posted by unknown sources.
One of the latest videos posted to the website is the visual rendition of famous English poet Chris De Burgh’s song “Wake up Boys” derived from his poetic collection “Getaway”. The video carries images of people killed in the Valley in the past 18 years. The song opens with the photograph of the body of a college student, “killed” by security forces, at Dal Gate in 2006. Photographs of wailing and weeping Kashmiri women and children, bodies of slain persons, funeral processions, and protests, go with each word of the song.
Another video shot against a Kashmiri song shows mainstream Kashmiri leaders in contempt. Former chief ministers late Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayed and Dr Farooq Abdullah have been shown with their heads bowed before Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.