🚀 go-pugleaf

>Tell them at the Kashmiri border that you are an American free lance
>journalist and see how far into the country you get.  Maybe you can do
>better than the respected journalist, whose first hand report I heard, 
>who declared himself a tourist and feared for his safety if discovered  
>the whole time he was there.  Stories in Kashmir are obtained a bit
>differently in Kashmir these days than in San Diego.

He probably had more to fear from the terrorists than from the Indian
Armed forces. The militants in Kashmir supported by Islamic 
fundementalists and Pakistan are engaged in their own ethnic cleansing 
in the valley.

They have driven people out of Kashmir and have often kidnapped and
killed many foriegners and tourists who are declared to be infidels. 
Sometimes its their 'revealing' clothes that have drawn the ire of 
these fundementalists. The same problem is now raising its head in 
Egypt seriously affecting the 3 billion $ tourism industry.. The locals 
in Kashmir have not been spared either according to the frequent 
reports of  widespread rape and murder. 

The international media usually falls prey to the temptation of being
anti-establishment. However it is imperative that a balanced 
viewpoint be presented.

The 'controlled media' phenomenon is not restricted to India alone. 
Even western countries have used these tactics for manipulating and 
influencing the information feed to the people. Prime examples
are, the IRA problem in UK and operation Desert Storm. As these
examples indicate these tactics are sometimes neccesary and in
fact save lives.

ck