New Delhi: The latest report of the Concerned Citizens Group (CCG) has noted that the mistrust, developed in the aftermath of the dilution of Article 370, towards the political leadership in New Delhi is growing in Jammu and Kashmir.Wajahat Habibullah, former chairman of the Minority Commission and the first chief information commissioner of India; Sushobha Barve, executive secretary, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, Delhi; Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Kapil Kak; and Bharat Bhushan, former editor and independent journalist, visited Jammu and Kashmir between March 20 and 25 to interact with political leaders, civil society and business organisations as well as community leaders to assess their perception of the current social and political situation in the Union territory.‘Delimitation for polarisation of communities’The report states that visiting CCG members were told of the consternation the delimitation exercise had caused among the political parties in the Union territory. The political parties believe that the exercise was “tendentious and was aimed at the polarisation of communities”.Compiling a diverse set of opinions on the issue, the report states, “The delimitation exercise, they claimed, had created communal division as well as anxiety by virtually pitching Jammu against the Kashmir Valley. They clearly saw ‘the influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the delimitation process and pointed out that constituencies had been carved out in Jammu in a manner that would make the BJP more secure in any future election’.The shifting of Muslim-dominated areas to reduce the community’s influence in several constituencies in the Jammu region and giving reservations to Gujjars, one of them claimed, ‘shows that the BJP can go to any extent for petty gains’.”Also read: J&K: Delimitation Commission Proposes Sweeping Changes to Electoral MapWith the delimitation exercise now done, there is a sense of uncertainty in the Union territory as to when would elections be held. “There was a high expectation that the assembly elections in J&K would be held sooner than later,” the report notes.‘Media on a tight leash’On the state of media, the report laments that there is a “sense of fear” among media outlets and media practitioners, for they are “increasingly put on a tight leash”.The report quotes a senior journalist as saying, “Surveillance typifies and brackets you. You are also branded by your reports and the people you meet. That is then used to define your journalism and based on that you can be denied access to the administration and your reporting thwarted. In fact, we become more vulnerable by talking to you.”Tenth Report of CCG by The WireIt also talks of a “coercive environment”, which is making it difficult to practice journalism in the Union territory. According to local journalists, the coercive environment consisted of intense surveillance, preparing background notes on all journalists (listing their names, siblings, parents, bank account details and properties owned), asking journalists to specify their political ideology and their stand on various issues, abolition of the Kashmir Press Club to prevent interaction amongst journalists, monitoring of social media activity, not renewing accreditation cards and not recognising “freelance” journalists.File photo of journalists protesting against the restrictions on the internet and mobile phone networks at the Kashmir Press Club during the lockdown in Srinagar last year. Photo: PTIA people’s victoryUnder the title of ‘Unusual Success Story of Satyagraha’, the report talks of Arizal, a village located 50 kilometres away from Srinagar, which was leased by the state government to the army for use as a firing range from 1964 until April 2014. It was a peaceful people-led agitation, under Tosamaidan Bachao Front, that forced the then Omar Abdullah government to terminate the lease.Due to the firing range, the village experienced a high casualty rate of local residents from injuries sustained from unexploded shells. The movement met its logical end after unanimous resolutions of all 64 panchayats of the area helped persuade the military authorities not to press for the renewal of the lease.Today, the village, the report states, have been sanctioned roads, schools and hospitals to service the community while adding that the region has the potential to emerge as a major tourist destination not only for J&K but for the country.Impact of The Kashmir Files The members of CCG note in the report that The Kashmir Files and its impact was the recurring theme during their interaction with the people of the Union territory.The report observes, “Almost the entire opinion spectrum in the Valley conveyed to our group that the film sought to give a spin to the deeply tragic and unfortunate exodus of Pandits by weaponising their suffering and marketing their pain for politico-commercial considerations and possible electoral dividends.”“Civil society groups conveyed to us that the film…seeks to slander, vilify and delegitimise the Valley’s majority community’s own pain and suffering of three decades during which period tens of thousands of youths were killed. Every family lost a member and has a story to tell. All Kashmiris have suffered and all need justice. But The Kashmir Files, in a brutal and dehumanising manner, people averred, describes every Kashmiri Muslim as barbaric, devious and jihadi to boot.”The report then goes on to ask, “Did the film seek to heal wounds? Not quite. In fact, wounds of Pandit migration had begun to heal somewhat, but the film has not only reopened these but sought to inflame passions.”Also read: ‘The Kashmir Files’ Uses Kashmiri Pandits For Propaganda, and Hates MuslimsThe CCG members who elicited the views of people in the Jammu region note that “in the aftermath of abrogation of Article 370, a sense of disaffection had seeped in even in Jammu. As the weeks and months passed, people began to come to terms with how the changes might affect them – especially land ownership and jobs, which were thrown open to people from outside J&K”.According to CCG, it has no government or political party affiliation and is purely a non-official group of individuals. Its visits to J&K are paid for by the members themselves with each bearing their own expenses.“The group does not accept and has never accepted sponsorship from any government or non-governmental organisation (NGO). Its sole aim is to act as a bridge between the people of J&K and the rest of India – trying to convey the views of the former to the latter so that Indians outside J&K become aware of the situation of their fellow citizens,” the report adds.