“Kashmir Media Service – KMS” claims to be a media outlet that covers news and events concerning Kashmir with a focus on reporting politics, social, human rights and local events in Kashmir. It publishes news in Urdu and English languages. But is KMS a media outlet or is it a propaganda tool under the guise of a media outlet, which works on disseminating misinformation as per some agenda, to mislead the people through false and fabricated content about Kashmir?
In this DFRAC report, we are providing a detailed analysis of KMS and its agenda
What is ‘Kashmir Media Service’ KMS?
KMS is allegedly an online news portal that operates in Pakistan, which has been found highly active in propagating misinformation related to India and content endorsing Kashmiri Separtisim. It appears to be the mouthpiece of the separatist camp in Kashmir and strongly presents the viewpoint of the Pakistanis and the separatists. The URL of KMS on Google is- https://www.kmsnews.org. When the DFRAC team investigated this URL, it was discovered that its location is Gujranwala City of Punjab province of Pakistan which is displayed in the screenshot provided below.
Who is the Editor of KMS?
The DFRAC team took a glance at the About page section on its website for detailed information regarding KMS, but it did not provide any information about its editor-in-chief, editors, and other team members. On investigating the website further, we stumbled upon a report published on the website on May 3, 2022. In this report, a person named Raies Ahmed Mir was mentioned as the editor.
Who is Raies Ahmed Mir?
According to a media report, Raies Ahmed Mir is originally a resident of Sopore in the Baramulla district of the valley. He currently resides in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Mir writes human rights articles on KMS, in which he presents statistics on alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. The second person who actively contributes articles on KMS is Pirzada Ahmed.
Content On KMS’s Website
Numerous sections on the KMS website illustrate that this website has been crafted for propaganda based on Kashmir. The sections devised on the website include IIOJK in focus, Voices of IIOJK, AJK, Kashmiri diaspora and India. The usage of words such as Azad Kashmir and Indian Occupied Kashmir is quite conspicuous on this website. It simply indicates the fact that this website has been crafted for Propaganda based on Kashmiri issues.
Coverage of Kashmiri Separatists:
Most of the coverage on KMS emphasizes Kashmir’s separatist leaders and their activities. Reports related to the activities of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Pakistan and statements of its leaders are published on the website of KMS. Besides this, several reports have described terrorists Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt as martyrs. Additionally, fabricated claims have been made in numerous human rights reports.
Pakistani Media’s Coverage on the False Reports of KMS:
KMS claims to be a Kashmir-based media outlet that publishes human rights reports on Kashmir. However, it is noteworthy that its reports are based on unconfirmed sources, without any concrete evidence and carry misleading information. KMS website has published various reports alleging human rights violations, oppression, and mistreatment of the Kashmiri people in Kashmir. Many Pakistani media outlets such as Dawn, Geo News, ARY News and Duniya News have also published news based on these reports. A paradigm of Pakistan media coverage of false reports from KMS can be observed in a claim made by KMS stating that more than 10 lakh Indian soldiers deployed in Kashmir are engaged in suppressing the voice of Kashmiris, as cited in one of its reports. This news has been covered by multiple Pakistani media organizations including Pakistan Observer, The Nation and Radio Sada-e-Hurriyat.
When we investigated the veracity of this news, we discovered many media reports including ‘The Wire’ and ‘Navbharat Times’ stating that up to 1 lakh 30 thousand Indian soldiers are deployed in Kashmir, out of which 80 thousand soldiers are deployed on border. In addition to this, about 40,000-45,000 soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles are handling the responsibility of anti-terrorism operations in the interior areas of Kashmir.
Is there any credibility in the alleged human rights reports of KMS? Here’s this question was raised as the DFRAC ascertained that these reports contain baseless, false and misleading information, which has been amplified by the Pakistani media. Here we are providing an analysis of some reports of KMS.
False Data on the Death of 210 Kashmiris in 2021:
KMS has published a report titled- “Indian troops martyred 210 Kashmiris in 2021”. There is no reference to any valid source in this report regarding the killing of 210 Kashmiris. Based on this report, Dawn, Geo News, ARY News and Duniya News have published the news articles which can be seen in the graphic below.
The reality of this false report by KMS is that the Government of India had told the Parliament that Kashmir witnessed 617 terrorist incidents between 5 August 2019 and 4 August 2022 in which 174 soldiers were martyred and 110 civilians were killed.
On a related note, this report cited that Indian authorities did not allow Kashmiri people to offer Friday prayers in the historic Jama Masjid of Srinagar for 45 weeks. Apart from this, Muharram processions and religious functions on Eid Milad-un-Nabi were forbidden in Kashmir. This claim by KMS and Pakistani media was also found to be false since the DFRAC had published a comprehensive report on Eid Milad-un-Nabi stating the facts and photos regarding the destruction of the valley on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi. Prayers were offered at religious places and the Kashmiri people celebrated their festival with peace and tranquility. Here is a screenshot of the media coverage of the festival celebrations.
False Claim of killing 96000 Kashmiris:
KMS had published a report in the year 2020. The report accused the Indian Army of killing 95,728 Kashmiris in the three decades from January 1989 to 2020. Further, the report cited that Indian soldiers molested or humiliated 11,231 women. This report was published by Pakistan’s Geo News, Daily Times and The News.
The truth of this misleading report by KMS is that Indian Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah had revealed in the Parliament that till now a total of 45000 people have died in Kashmir, including people of all communities. Shah stated that Article 370 was contentious for the death of 45,000 people in Jammu and Kashmir, which was eradicated by Prime Minister Modi.
Urdu Service by KMS
The social media accounts of Kashmir Media Service-KMS have been withheld in India. However, its Urdu service is still running social media accounts and sharing fake and misleading information regarding Kashmir. Its account on the X platform is operated under the name of KMS اردو (@KMS_IIOJK).
Fake/Misleading News by KMS
Here are some fact-checks of Fake and Misleading Information spread by KMS concerning Kashmir
Fake/Misleading News 1
On the controversy in NIT Srinagar, KMS claimed that a complete shutdown was observed in Kashmir on December 1, 2023, against the NIT Srinagar student for posting a derogatory video.
Fact-Check
In our probe, we found that no media reports were published regarding the shutdown announcement in Kashmir. Furthermore, we discovered a video shared by the Jammu and Kashmir digital news platform ‘The Kashmir Connect’ (@KASHMICO) which revealed that no shutdown was imposed.
Fake/Misleading News 2
KMS claimed that the Indian Army had arrested 3 innocent Kashmiri youth in the Reasi district.
Fact-Check
According to a media report by TOI, in a successful joint counter-insurgency operation, security forces have arrested three suspected terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district with unaccounted cash recovered from them.
Conclusion
Pakistan-run KMS publishes false and misleading facts and self-compiled fabricated research on issues regarding Kashmir. The content of this website seems to mislead people both locally and internationally by portraying separatists as true representatives of Kashmiris. Its reports carry misinformation which implies that this media organization runs propaganda to promote the separatists’ agenda on Kashmir. Notably, it appears to be the mouthpiece of the separatists.
