The Telegraph equates Kashmiri stone pelters with Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees

In a brand new low, the Telegraph seems to have turned into an apologist of terrorism. They have put the devotees of Bhagwan Ayyappa and stone pelters in Kashmir valley in the same bracket. The lead story of the front page of The Telegraph goes like: In Kashmir, We Shoot them. In Kerala, We Call them devotees. 

Unfortunately, just because of despicable acts like these, the profession of journalism has been perceived as abuse. Such kind of journalism is pathetic, to say the least. It goes on to show the anti-Hindu editorial line of the newspaper and soft-corner for radical Islamists. Even the leading journalists of India called out ‘The Telegraph’ for their ‘journalism’. Adityaraj Kaul, the journalist at Republic, tweeted, “Journalism is going down the drain every passing day. In Kashmir, stone pelters are defending Pakistan sponsored terrorists who kill innocent Kashmiris and brave forces. However, in Sabarimala, it’s an issue of worship. No terror. No external pressure. No guns blazing. Grow up!”

In Kerala, Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees are victims of structural violence as several devotees sacrificed their lives by committing suicide or got killed in protests in a bid to protect their custom and tradition. The communist regime of Kerala has been committing inhumane atrocities on the Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees who are protesting against an imposed right having no takers in the state. Despite this, no media house seems to be interested to talk about the human rights of Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees. On the other hand, they never miss the chance to conduct prime-time debates whenever stone pelters demanding secession are answered in the language they understand.

Devotees in Kerala have not attacked even a single civilian, while stone pelters in Kashmir target civilians, army, tourists, school children etc. ‘Peaceful’ and ‘misguided’ youths as Lutyens’ media and Human Rights Commission fondly refers to them, targeted a school bus of Rainbow School in Kanipura village in Shopian in May last year. This cowardly act caused head injury to one student and had created a sense of fear among students. There were around 50 children on the bus.

Tourism is a major source of revenue in Kashmir. Thousands of Kashmiris depend upon tourism for their bread and butter. The Stone pelters targeted even these tourists on April 3 in Anantnag district of J&K. Seven tourists suffered injuries in that incident. In May last year, A young tourist, Thirumani from Chennai was killed by stone-pelters in Kashmir. These stone-pelters also halt army operations against terrorists in the valley. They also help terrorists to escape.

Pakistani intelligence agency ISI funds all these stone pelters. Different media houses on various occasions have exposed how Pakistan sponsors stone pelters to carry out deadly attacks against the security forces and to damage public property. The ISI is also reported to be providing funds for making petrol bombs India today exposed that protestors get almost Rs 20,000 a month for protesting and throwing stones while children get around Rs. 7,000 to 8,000 per month depending upon their physique. If the child is weak he would get around Rs. 5,500 to 6,000. For children up to 12 years, the minimum payment for stone-pelting is fixed at Rs 4,000.

For more details: Our doubts have come true, ISI behind funding stone pelters

In contrary, Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees in Kerala don’t indulge in violent protests. Pervasive protests in Kerala have everything to do with faith, devotion, worship, and tradition. The protestors are simply against a particular diktat and an oppressive regime but not against Indian establishment or the Indian army. Neither they demand secession from India neither have they killed anyone or assisted any terrorist. It will be totally absurd to compare the situations in Kerala with Kashmir. The Telegraph time and again bolsters the notion that its absurdity and idiocy have no limits.