DIGITAL ACTIVISM: A CASE STUDY OF KASHMIR
DIGITAL ACTIVISM: A CASE STUDY OF KASHMIR
Abstract
In a world so interconnected post-rapid globalization aided by the invention of the internet, the physical borders hold a little less power over keeping people apart and most importantly, unaware of the other side. This research article focuses on themes related to modernized warfare, revolutions, and resistance in conflicted areas, with a special case study of Kashmir. This research article aims to dig deeper into the digital dimension of Kashmiri activism and explores the various perspectives, obstacles, challenges, and limitations of using technology and social media in the fight for freedom. By using different methods of secondary research and analyzing social media content including online petitions, various campaigns, published research articles, live streams, and digital storytelling, this article aims to provide a thorough perspective of the origin and impact of digital activism by Kashmiris on the overall political landscape of the region. Over the decades, research has been done with a more focused approach on the traditional dimensions of the Kashmir conflict, from the territorial projection of the dispute to the conventional use of the military to terrorize and violate the human rights of the long-oppressed people of Kashmir, but not much work has been done with a special focus on the digital dimension of the issue in recent times. This research aims to fill that gap, to explore how cyberspace is used for raising awareness, especially in a conflicted area, and also aims to analyze the impact of using such a mode of communication and awareness. Furthermore, it also explores the consequences that Kashmiri activists have had to face in their freedom struggle, especially keeping in view the different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, how they have suspended and taken down the content promoting the cause of Kashmiris and thus have proven to be complacent in the atrocities of the Indian authorities from time to time.
Hypothesis
Digital media, after print media, plays a crucial role in conflicted areas. For years, Indian authorities have restricted the press freedom of the Kashmiris to halt their struggle against oppression. Imposing internet blackouts for prolonged periods of time for Kashmiris has long been a strategy of Indian authorities to suppress the Kashmiri voice of protest against injustice.
Introduction
It is no secret that in the contemporary state of affairs, non-traditional warfare, with the help of the rapid advancement of technology and globalization, has taken up new dimensions. Information warfare, cyber warfare, economic warfare, proxy warfare, asymmetric warfare, and space warfare are just some examples of the different dimensions of nontraditional conflict, in which emerging technologies have played a crucial role, one way or another.
While India and Pakistan enter a new and modernized era of hybrid warfare, it is important to note that Kashmir is unlawfully bearing the brunt of such tactics and strategies which propagate personal agendas, especially from the Indian authorities, which undermine the freedom of Kashmiri people and further their personal, political and national interest at the expanse of the oppressed. With the rapid advancement in technology in recent times, digital spaces have become a powerful outlet and tool for activism in conflict-ridden areas.
Through the advancement in the digital world and the power of globalization, online spaces like social media platforms have become a convenient option for individuals and groups to effectively organize, protest, mobilize, voice out their discontent, and call out injustice like never before. The digital realm has expanded significantly in scope, size, and usage. It is widely believed that the digital sphere promotes communication, information exchange, and connectivity that surpasses age, borders, language, and governments.
Although social media is just one aspect of the digital world, it is a dominant aspect of the lives of many young individuals who use it either actively or passively. Content creators benefit greatly from the digital world as it allows them to reach a wider audience with unrestricted internet access. Social media users can increase the visibility of their content by incorporating specific hashtags or encouraging their followers to share their posts. Activism has been made simpler with the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and YouTube.
The beat of every modern civic protest can be heard on these platforms. With the help of these sites, organizing a popular uprising has become easier than ever before. An activist movement can be given a virtual and real platform by creating an event, posting a status, or tweeting about an uprising. One of the best examples to analyze the power of social media and online platforms in today’s day and age would be a very relevant example of the Arab spring uprising of 2011.
The Arab spring marked a historical movement that continues to affect the global countries and the conflicts between them, while democracy prevailed in some countries, especially Tunisia and Egypt, an all-out civil war broke out in other states like Syria and Libya that continued to this date, costing hundreds and thousands of human lives, brutal killings and violation of human rights by those involved. This heart-wrenching act of self-immolation by 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi in protest of the unfair treatment by local officials set the basis for the “Jasmine revolution” in Tunisia in 2011 the media since it was a dictatorship government, there was no free media or freedom of speech, much like the dystopian English society in George Orwell’s 1984.
Since there was no local media coverage of the events unfolding, social media played a great role in the movement, especially platforms like Facebook and Twitter which covered the brutality live through the civilian’s social media handles. The news broke out like wildfire far and wide no matter the perfect portrayal of a “situation under control” by Ben Ali in the international media.
The Internet has been utilized as a means to express political opinions in areas where physical demonstrations are challenging or prohibited by the ruling political forces. It enables people in politically sensitive regions to access information about their institutions, engage with diverse ideologies and viewpoints, encounter opinions of analysts, experts, and laypeople about their society, and most importantly, provide an unregulated platform for free speech.
This speech can cross territorial boundaries and serve as a reference for conventional forms of activism. Kashmir has been crippled with conflict and political instability, with the disputes between India and pakistan and severe human rights abuses and violations in the region, the stunning valley has been an unfortunate warzone for numerous decades. The fight for freedom, the struggle for truth and justice, and rights have also evolved with time, The methods for political activism and raising awareness for the Kashmiri people now also include the use of social media platforms and digital tools, which transcend barriers and borders.
Discussion
As we speak, there is an outrage in the world of the internet current over a video doing rounds on social media, where an Indian teacher in Uttar Pradesh is encouraging Hindu students to unleash violence and harm on a Muslim student. Despite the subsequent apology of the teacher after the video went viral, it goes on to show the blatant hate and violent behavior the Muslim minority in India has to go through, if anything, it depicts religious intolerance which raises massive concerns about India’s secularism. This incident is one of the many past incidents and harsh experiences of Muslims in India, some of them were recorded on camera and posted on social media while others were hushed, erased, and silenced. The situation in Kashmir is not much different.
The religious intolerance runs rampant in Kashmir and Indian authorities have gone to great lengths to conceal it. For decades, India has sought to obfuscate the truth about the Kashmir conflict. Since 1947, the conflict has led to an ongoing armed struggle and a humanitarian crisis in Kashmir. India has repeatedly used a number of tactics and digital strategies to muffle and silence the voice of truth in Kashmir, speaking out against the injustice they face on a daily basis.
From unprovoked firing and shelling to frequent weaponization of rapes and other violations against women and children-the most vulnerable sections of the Kashmiri population, India tries its best to denounce and shush the digital presence of the evidence of these incidents. India has not only censored the media and online activism of Kashmiris on platforms like Facebook and Twitter the most, but it has also detained and arrested, and tortured the journalists and media persons in the region, some of whom are still in jails and off the scene, without much explanation of their supposed crime.
It only goes on to prove the dissatisfaction and unnerved stance of Indian authorities at the projection of their reality to the rest of the world. India has not only suppressed and violated the right to freedom of speech of the Kashmiri people but it has also used its military to suppress dissent and violence in Kashmir. In recent years, India has also sought to control the narrative about Kashmir on social media. It has blocked access to social media platforms, taken down Kashmir related pages and accounts, disrupted telecommunication, and has arrested Kashmiris for using social media to express their views, not only that, Indian authorities continue to spread disinformation about the conflict and project it as a normalized state of affairs.
India's obfuscation of the Kashmir conflict has had a number of negative consequences. It has prevented the international community from understanding the true nature of the conflict and the human rights abuses that are taking place in Kashmir. It has also made it difficult for Kashmiris to speak out about their experiences and to seek justice. The advent of social media has provided a new challenge for India's obfuscation efforts. Kashmiris have used social media to share their stories and to document the human rights abuses that they are facing. This has helped to break the silence about the Kashmir conflict and to put pressure on India to end its human rights abuses, which seems to be the worst nightmare of the Indian authorities.
The advantages of digital and online activism are numerous, as mentioned in the starting paragraphs of this article. The online perspective, as risky as it is, is an unfiltered, and totally raw, except for the possibility of the deep fake technology and artificial intelligence advancement which can generate false images and videos, online documentation of the crimes against humanity in Kashmir has made the world aware of India’s dichotomy and false narratives of normalcy in the region.
Under the guise of industrialism and promotion of tourism and women empowerment, after the abrogation of 370 articles in 2019, the media which somehow escapes the matrix and the algorithm of the social media platforms clearly makes it evident how Indian authorities are normalizing their settler colonialism by changing the demography of the region and deploying more and more troops. In any conflict area in the world, access to correct information is as crucial as the conflict itself. In case of the Kashmir, the activists from Indian occupied Kashmir as well as the diaspora are not only being brutally violated and disrespected but also facing numerous challenges in carrying out this crucial task of spreading awareness of what is actually happening in the most militarized and heavily contested region on the planet.
While the online activism of oppressed people of Indian-occupied Kashmir has borne fruit and incredibly shown the true face of the Indian authoritarian regime, in the face of countless detentions, suspensions, abuse, and violation, it has also suffered greatly and continues to do so. The digital activism of Kashmiris advocating for their right to self-determination and against the unlawful atrocities against them has had a great impact on the political landscape of the region. As commendable as their struggle has been, its consequences are still unfolding. As the elections are near, political tension is bound to rise given the historical evidence, which might change the political structure of the whole conflict. Digital activism of the Kashmiri people has so far proved to have been helpful in not only raising awareness in the international community but has also helped in organizing mass protests and demonstrations. However, the frequent internet shutdowns in the region just prove the fearful stance of the tyrants at having been exposed.
Findings
An official report published by the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (hereafter JKCCS), documents in “Kashmir Internet Siege” that an internet and telecommunications shutdown imposed in August 2019 severely impacted several sectors of Kashmiri life, including public health, justice, education, and livelihood. The report mentions the visible forms of repression, including ‘undeclared martial law, arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances’, creating an atmosphere of fear and ‘terrifying uncertainty’ which was only intensified by the blackout.
News, notifications, and announcements did not reach the public - when the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in March 2020, Kashmiri residents took 60 minutes to download Covid-19 guidelines, while the rest of the country took 0.24 seconds (JKCCS, 2021). Moreover in another report titled 'How social media corporations enable silence on Kashmir' was published by Stand With Kashmir in September 2021. Although the report is not accessible, news coverage about it indicates that 62% of participants in a poll experienced online censorship on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Numerous tweets discussing Kashmir were removed, and accounts were suspended, and deleted. The Committee to Protect Journalists analyzed the suppressed tweets and found that 920,000 of them mentioned Kashmir.
Conclusion
Concluding the discussion and my research, it is established already that digital activism has become an increasingly important tool for Kashmiris to express their political views and challenge the Indian government's control over the region as well as urge the international community and human rights defenders to put pressure on the Indian authorities to end the abuse and violation of their basic rights. The future of digital activism in Kashmir is uncertain. The Indian government may continue to crack down on digital activism, or it may eventually be forced to lift its censorship of social media. However, one thing is clear: digital activism has played a significant role in the Kashmir conflict and will continue to do so in the years to come.
References
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Written By : SUGHAND AZAM
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