Media has played an important role:

From the past one month we are hearing that Taliban has entered the valley. Whether it was true or a false propaganda to change the tourism environment of valley, we don’t know. But the news spread like the fire in the dry forest. Everyone analyzing the situation some found it good and some found bad. But it is unfortunate that we are welcoming the foreigners to invade us, how can we act as blind to what they are doing in neighboring country. They are treating their own people like animals, flogging women in front of people, attacking masjids, killing their own Muslim brothers. Is this what our religion teaches us? No, our religion never meant that. Our religion Islam means peace and we are here in this world to maintain peace and live in brotherhood. Recently in an article ‘Media Malice’ by Mr. Syed Mudasir Shafi, he has written “It would have been better if the separatists in the valley too fight for implementing Islamic law rather than independence …… Islam is a religion of peace and it is media which has defamed it and made the life of Muslims a hell everywhere in the world”. The writer has put all the blame on the media but how could he forget that when an agitation starts in Kashmir everyone wants the presence of media there. We should not deny that the media has also played an important role in giving the international representation to the Kashmir dispute. We should try to make Kashmir peaceful not a war zone. Even the United Jihad Council chairman Syed Salah-ud-din recently said: “Taliban has no role in Kashmir”. War never results in a solution but peace can. We are fighting hard from last 20 years but we achieved nothing by following the separatist leaders, who are in hundreds. During the last year Amarnath land row issue agitation went on spontaneously and people followed the leaders to every extinct, more than 70 innocent people sacrificed their precious lives for the agitation but at the end results came out; some joined mainstream politics and the people went in herds to cast their votes. Even now the situation aroused that the leading separatist group APHC (M) denied boycotting the coming Lok Sabha elections. What makes them to do so? We must get answer from them. They have differences with each other and the people have been grinded in-between their personal matters. Now some of them are also nullifying the contribution of past 20 years of armed struggle. He once was the part of it but now it recently came out from him the acting chairman of Hurriyat (M) Moulana Abbas Ansari said: “I do not accept diktats of the United Jihad Council. If they kept quite in assembly elections asking people to follow their own conscience, why are they asking for boycott now? At that time, they are threatening us. Elections are non issue and the Hurriyat is not going to waste time and energy on running a boycott campaign. why are people targeting Sajad lone for contesting elections? Have they forgotten that the late Sheikh Abdullah also contested the elections after heading the Plebiscite Front? ”. Then what is the conclusion we are getting from it, will we get another separatist leader joining mainstream politics soon, perhaps in future some will also wet their beak in the water of mainstream politics. It was well wrote by Mr. M. Ashraf in his column Kashmir First in GK, “Leaders preaching Azadi have to go way beyond its abstract meaning to make its attainment worthwhile for the common people”. I think we should concentrate more and try to make decision of our own, what we really want. Do we wish to be independent or do we really are struggling in every way to achieve it?