Monday, October 10, 2005

Malicious Reporting By Associated Press

Via MSNBC, here is an AP report: Kashmiri rebels reach victims first

Shaukat Khan hiked across a valley to collect food and supplies he thought were being handed out by authorities.

Instead, he found what thousands others discovered after the massive earthquake that shattered their villages: a lot of help was coming from Kashmiri separatists on the Indian side of the disputed territory.


Think about it. AP claims that separatists and terrorists are ahead of Government of India in helping the victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

Given the vastness of the destruction, and the limited assets of these so-called "rebels", it is simply inconceivable that this story is the whole truth. Its possible that these guys helped out some folks before the Indian army got there -- great, we need as much help as is possible; but is it AP's case that these guys have reached more people with more stuff than the army which has enormous logistical resources?

The only way this is possible is if the army didn't care about Kashmiri victims. This is a very grave accusation and AP needs to be very careful about whether this is the road it wishes to take.

We have argued repeatedly that India needs to pick up its pace of help, but even we are left astounded by this AP story which reveals a malicious anti-India agenda. AP should be ashamed.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The bias, racism and inaccuracy of reportage in the western media is not limited to the Associated Press. I would include Agence France Press and the BBC. This said, India needs to effectively counter such misperceptions. It has not done so.

This said, India needs to liberalize its own licensing laws pertaining to the media to allow international-based agencies to print and broadcast from within India. Being in country will help negate the hostile coverage. This is in India's interest. An independent press regulator would ensure factual accuracy. The competition would also keep the national media, which is often partisan for other reasons, on its toes.

Primary Red said...

Thanks, Kumar for the link. Indianpatriot, it is your initial comment that inspired this post!

Best regards.

Anonymous said...

Besides Rosenberg, AP also has a local kashmiri journalist, who is a huge yasin fan and suporter.
He [the local scribe ] had done a disgutingly biased report of the nadimarg massacre in 03, in which he wrote, "24 Upper caste hindus were killed by suspected......."

Anonymous said...

The media which report unfairly on India vis-a-vis Kashmir generally reads like who's-who of the "world" media.

This hasnt been new. I have long observed their tilt and they way the publish such news, its practically littered across their postings and publications.

libertarian said...

Folks, let's call them out in numbers when they do this. The BBC has already ackowledged that the print medium has changed to the advantage of the freelancer (aka blogger). They will increasingly carry other points of view - let our's be heard.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

good idea, lib'n.
Although I suspect they will still stamp such views as AP has done as the "official" or correct versions.

Followers

Blog Archive