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| Calling in Army does'nt warrant muzzling press freedom | | | Had the Army authorities agreed to deploy troops in troubled areas of Kashmir,for which a formal request had been made by the state authorities on June 29,the security scenario in the valley would have not registered an alarming dimension.But if the approach of the state Government and other opposition parties,adopted during the last one year, is kept in view the Army authorities were not wrong in turning down the state Government's request.Apart from launching a campaign in favour of withdrawal of troops from within the civilian areas the Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah,has been heard demanding repeal of the Armed Forces(special powers)Act(AFSPA.And whenever killings took place the Chief Minister was the first to react sharply and would not hesitate blaming the security forces for committing human rights violations.Omar is not to be blamed for it.He is supposed,as head of the Government,to favour those measures which are quite dear to the people.And when
the men of the CRPF had come in for sharp criticism for killing several youths in the firing on unruly protesters the Army authorities did not want to invite criticism in case some ugly and unsavoury incident took place in which a couple of youths fell dead in the Army firing.The matter was immediately referred to the Ministry of Defence
which opposed deployment of troops for tackling unrest and violence in Kashmir.And when the situation assumed very serious dimensions on the evening of Tuesday the troops were called out to restore normalcy.Reports said that though the Chief Secrtetary,S.S.Kapoor,made a formal request for deploying troops in Srinagar the Chief Minister had already secured OK from the Ministry of Defence.One need not feel excited over the deployment of troops in Srinagar or elsewhere because soldiers are mentally trained in using the power of guns to quell violence.Since the soldiers neither wield lathis nor are equipped with tearsmoke guns their action could be,at times,more disastrous than the measures police and the paramilitary forces initiate for restoring order. The first impact of the deployment of the troops has been felt by newsmen whose curfew passes have been cancelled and were not allowed on Wednesday to move out and about on their professional
duty.And
when the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar was asked what was the reason for cancellation of curfew passes he informed newsmen that since Srinagar is under the control of the troops curfew passes "are not entertained." But the Army authorities would have not resorted to such an extreme course of action had not the state authorities supported it.But both the Army authorities and the stnate Government need to know that in the absence of freedom for the newsmen to collect information about the incidents and events and report them in the newspapers they work for it could give open field for rumours to multiply.Once people start banking on rumours,instead of facts,there is every possibility that people could get incited to violence.Yes,the state Government may not have cherished the headlines that some Srinagar based newspapers carried on Wednesday.In most of the newspapers the headlines ran "bloodbath in Kashmir" which may have been treated by the state
authorities as highly exaggerated on the plea that killing of three civilians in firing opened by the security forces could not be described as "bloodbath."But this does not give the Government and the Army powers to muzzle the freedom of press.The state Government authorities should have discussed this very issue with editors of Srinagar based newspapers and sought their cooperation in the efforts being made to douse the flames of violence.There is no doubt that the situation in Kashmir calls for firm operations against the rioters.It is so because the demonstrators protesting against the killing of civilians in police and CRPF firing do not demand ration.They do not demand jobs.They do not demand uninterrupted power and drinking water supply.They want "azadi".The protesters have been shouting in favour of Azadi and this they have been demanding during the last over one year.While doing so they try to create confusion among the security
forces.Anyway
if the troops have been called out the mainstream political leaders need to play a constructive role in persuading well meaning citizens to motivate the angry youth to shun violence.(eom)
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