Letter to Ministry of External
affairs
5 May 2004.
Shri Shashank,
Foreign Secretary,
Ministry of External Affairs,
New Delhi, India.
Dear Foreign Secretary,
We write to express dismay and outrage
at the Channel 4 documentary on Kashmir broadcast on the 8th April 2004,
which was filmed despite the fact that the GOI had declined permission
to sanction it. The Channel 4 journalist, Sandra Jordan, apparently entered
the country on a tourist visa and proceeded to film, in contravention of
her status as a tourist. It seems that Chanel 4 holds the GOI and its procedures
in contempt since they evidently regard it as a soft touch.
The documentary was an absolute
disgrace. We accept the right of others to criticise India because we are
proud to belong to a tolerant society, but not in this case, since the
filming was illegal. Although such openness entails some costs we feel,
as you will probably agree, India's openness and pluralism are its great
strengths and that means allowing people to do and say things with which
we disagree. We also note that such freedoms are not routinely available
in many other countries, especially in our geographical region.
However, the documentary made by
Sandra Jordan for Channel 4 was an egregious attempt to whitewash the murderous
campaign by terrorists that has resulted in more than 65,000 deaths in
J&K. It vilified the Indian security services as murderers and
torturers and portrayed the terrorists as mere victims of an oppressive
Indian government. The fate of the Hindu population was barely mentioned
and the views of refugees were not solicited. The most glaring omission
was the failure to interview any member of the elected government of J&K.
In our view, this is a deliberate ploy in which the British media regularly
engages in order to vindicate Pakistani and terrorist claims that the sovereignty
of the region is disputed. Highlighting the existence of democracy in J&K
would therefore undermine this crucial assumption, which is presumably
why the horrendous attack on the J&K assembly in Srinagar found no
mention in Sandra Jordan's gratuitous assault on the truth. It concluded
with the implication that J&K ought to become independent.
We urge that the violation of her
visa status by Sandra Jordan is viewed with the utmost seriousness and
appropriate measures are taken to ensure that such misconduct is not repeated.
As a corollary, we counsel that Channel 4 should be banned from India for
the foreseeable future and an apology required before the ban is lifted.
We are considering embarking on public interest litigation in New Delhi
to enable the Indian courts express a view on how governmental bodies should
respond in such a situation, so that official action in the future is underpinned
by a court ruling.
Yours truly,
Dr. Gautam Sen,
National Spokesman Overseas Friends
of the BJP (UK),
Member of the Indo-UK Round Table.
Cc. The Right Honourable, Shri L.
K. Advani,
Deputy Prime Minister of India
and Home Minister,
Cc. Shri Venkiah Naidu, President
BJP.
