Kashmiri Youth Log On To ‘Internet Democracy’. ============================= As soon as news of the recent Ramban firing poured in, along with the curfew announcement to curb the ensuing protests, Internet services were snapped in the Valley. Online dictatorship seems to have become a norm in Kashmir. However, despite the government’s highhandedness to check the inflow of information, Kashmir’s young brigade has taken to the cyberspace in a big way. All attempts to gag the press – both TV and print – have resulted in the birth of a new breed of online news junkies striving to democratise news while giving it a digital edge. The “youth-run and youth-focused” online medium in Kashmir has gained momentum and they proudly call it “internet democracy”. A plethora of online magazines like The Vox Kashmir, The Kashmir Walla, The Parallel Post, Kashmir Currents and Kashmir Dispatch, run by youngsters, including students and young professionals, are catering to the new age, tech-savvy population with news and views on and about Kashmir. Haziq Qadri and his three friends joined hands to run The Vox Kashmir, an e-magazine on art, culture and life. On 18 July following the Ramban incident, while the entire city faced a shutdown, this 22-year-old had a busy day at work. He was with his friends at Lal Chowk, when a friend in Ramban called to inform him about the incident. This journalism student then swung into action. He got a confirmation about the firing incident and casualties from other sources and rushed to a nearby cyber cafe to post stories on his e-zine, which he says has already recorded more than two lakh views. “During tough times, everyone wants an update on the situation. We try to put together honest and unbiased news. This is our mission as we know that TV and newspapers never put up the true version of a story,” says Haziq. A team of four, each one has been assigned different tasks – reporting, editing, coordinating and updating news continuously. “We make sure to check our facts quite a number of times before posting anything online. We are aware of the scope of rumour mongering on social networking sites. So we rely only on local reporters and highly credible sources,” says Qadri Inzaman, 21, of The Vox Kashmir. However, Inzaman still feels it’s not easy to make people from the outskirts of Kashmir understand the concept of curfew – being confined to one’s house, not knowing what is happening outside. “TV doesn’t show anything and no one trusts what it shows. Every Kashmiri has experienced the frustration of being stuck in the dark. But we see the Internet as an empowering weapon,” he says. Most of these online forums started during the 2010 uprising when there was a complete ban on media and even SMS services were shut down. Another youngster Haris Zargar, co-founder, The Parallel Post, says that his team of six, attempts to create a repository of various alternate writings – poetry, anecdotes and blogs on Kashmir. “We are trying to create a space for new talent and bring to the fore some unheard voices. We feature stories that don’t make it to the mainstream media, but are important and need to be documented. We welcome posts from students and people living outside Kashmir. Our contributors aren’t essentially prolific writers, but these are people who have great stories, opinions and experiences to share,” he says. Read rest of the article here - - ➥ tehelka/kashmiri-youth-log-on-to-internet-democracy/
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 17:16:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015