https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/...y-peddles-jihadist-friendly-kashmir-narrative
…Justice for All, the activist subsidiary of the Chicago-based multimedia company Sound Vision Foundation, has focused since 2012 to “raise awareness regarding the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in Burma [now Myanmar].” It also has a campaign calling attention to the plight of Uyghurs in China. But Justice for All is now pushing a theocratic, Islamist view in the Kashmir debate. While doing so, it conflates the issue of Kashmir with the plight of the Rohingya and the Uyghurs.
A crystalizing example comes from a “scorecard” that Justice for All promoted during the Democratic presidential primaries, noting their position on “Kashmir, Uighur and Rohingyas,” as if these issues are all simply about tyrannical governments violently oppressing local people.
While reasonable minds can differ on how to settle the long-simmering issue of J&K, its differences with the issues of the Rohingya and the Uyghurs are vast.
Unlike China, India is a democracy that has a strong commitment to the rule of law and individual rights. To the degree the issue of Kashmir has created mass refugees, as is the case of Myanmar and the Rohingya, it was Hindus leaving Kashmir as a result of jihadist violence, not as a result of governmental oppression. Indeed, to the degree that the Indian government has overstepped since announcing the end of Kashmir’s special status, it has been responding to jihadi violence.
Yet Justice for All and its parent, Sound Vision, ignore all these facts. In recent months, pushing an Islamist narrative on Kashmir has become an all-consuming focus for the network. A Pakistan-backed Kashmir leader, who is reported to support jihadists such as US-designated Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, for example, was a featured guest on Sound Vision’s Muslim Network TV.
On 30 November, Sardar Masood Khan, president of “Azad” or “Free” Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir according to India), appeared on Muslim Network TV’s “Mujahid Talks” show hosted by Sound Vision’s founding chairman, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid.
The hour-long talk show painted Kashmiris as unfortunate victims of brutal Indian aggression and perpetuated the myth of a “systematic genocide” of Kashmiris by India’s “one million army” deployed in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
“There were killings every day…instances of rape used as an instrument of war…enforced disappearances, fake encounters and…arbitrary detentions of thousands of people who are being tortured in concentration camps and prisons in the occupied territory and in northern India,” Khan claimed….
…Justice for All, the activist subsidiary of the Chicago-based multimedia company Sound Vision Foundation, has focused since 2012 to “raise awareness regarding the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in Burma [now Myanmar].” It also has a campaign calling attention to the plight of Uyghurs in China. But Justice for All is now pushing a theocratic, Islamist view in the Kashmir debate. While doing so, it conflates the issue of Kashmir with the plight of the Rohingya and the Uyghurs.
A crystalizing example comes from a “scorecard” that Justice for All promoted during the Democratic presidential primaries, noting their position on “Kashmir, Uighur and Rohingyas,” as if these issues are all simply about tyrannical governments violently oppressing local people.
While reasonable minds can differ on how to settle the long-simmering issue of J&K, its differences with the issues of the Rohingya and the Uyghurs are vast.
Unlike China, India is a democracy that has a strong commitment to the rule of law and individual rights. To the degree the issue of Kashmir has created mass refugees, as is the case of Myanmar and the Rohingya, it was Hindus leaving Kashmir as a result of jihadist violence, not as a result of governmental oppression. Indeed, to the degree that the Indian government has overstepped since announcing the end of Kashmir’s special status, it has been responding to jihadi violence.
Yet Justice for All and its parent, Sound Vision, ignore all these facts. In recent months, pushing an Islamist narrative on Kashmir has become an all-consuming focus for the network. A Pakistan-backed Kashmir leader, who is reported to support jihadists such as US-designated Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, for example, was a featured guest on Sound Vision’s Muslim Network TV.
On 30 November, Sardar Masood Khan, president of “Azad” or “Free” Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir according to India), appeared on Muslim Network TV’s “Mujahid Talks” show hosted by Sound Vision’s founding chairman, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid.
The hour-long talk show painted Kashmiris as unfortunate victims of brutal Indian aggression and perpetuated the myth of a “systematic genocide” of Kashmiris by India’s “one million army” deployed in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
“There were killings every day…instances of rape used as an instrument of war…enforced disappearances, fake encounters and…arbitrary detentions of thousands of people who are being tortured in concentration camps and prisons in the occupied territory and in northern India,” Khan claimed….
