Army wants to do its journalism in the Valley

Sources in the Army said that after experimenting — without much success — with funding some existing Urdu dailies in Srinagar, the psychological warfare cell of the Srinagar Corps headquarters expressed its dissatisfaction with the system.

“We do not have the kind of funds required to influence the existing Urdu newspapers. And in Srinagar, terrorists walk in to newspaper offices threatening editors to carry their press releases. We cannot do that. When we can neither pay nor use the threat of gun, we are thinking of the next best alternative to get our point across,” said an official in the Udhampur-based Northern Command.

The Army is also critical of reporters in the Valley claiming that their “thinking” is coloured and “our denials make no difference.”

Officials say that some of the stories expected in the proposed newspaper would be on the development work that the Army has done in Jammu and Kashmir. For example, the Army’s role in building roads, rebuilding schools and dispensaries, free medical assistance to the locals, including the posting of women doctors.

“The Army’s positive role is almost never highlighted by the local newspapers. That’s why we will write about all the development work carried out by us here,” sources said.

The proposed newspaper would also present the Army’s side of the story about anti-terrorist operations and engagement with Pakistan at the line of control (LoC). The Army has already started video-graphing its cordon and search operations and the footage is provided to both national and international television networks when asked for, an official in the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) said.

“Each time a terrorist is killed, his life history would be published along with his photograph telling the youth of Kashmir how short is the life of a terrorist. The paper will also try to provide job avenues and notices about employment,” he added.

However, the Army is still to figure out where and how to print and the distribution network. “The main problem would be funds. With a limited budget there is not much we can do, especially when there are no allocations for such projects. Then there are clearances required. But we are working on it and it should not take too long,” an official said.