“India’s Brave Men Rescue Kashmiris” is a running on-screen headline on CNN-News 18 on this Friday morning. Heavy rains in Kashmir as well as snowfall have led to the Jhelum breaking its banks and to avalanches. There is severe flooding. The Army is out on rescue missions. But please note the tone of that headline. Night after night, our nationalistic patriotic news channels rail and rant against Kashmiri separatists, yelling that Kashmir is part of India and anyone who does not agree is a traitor. The other night Rahul Shivshankar of Times Now screamed out a litany of complaints against Farooq Abdullah for his remarks on Kashmir and the separatist movement. You were left with the impression that Shivshankar knew more about Jammu and Kashmir than Abdullah, whatever Abdullah’s background and political experience. Maybe for all I know Shivshankar is a world-renowned expert on Kashmir. But he definitely is a fine proponent of television patriotism.

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