Shekhar Kapoor Vs Biased BBC Coverage of Kashmir : How Protestant Britain Occupied Catholic Ireland By Force

Shekhar Kapoor Vs Biased BBC Coverage of Kashmir : How Protestant Britain Occupied Catholic Ireland By Force

Rajiv Upadhyay

BBC has never been a friend of India . It tried its best to paint Indians  as a ultra backward people till India emerged as an economic power house and went past Britain in the size of its economy . First India’s mastery of software and subsequently its recent space achievements deprived BBC of its chance to paint India as a land of tigers and snake charmers .

But it crossed its own limits of biased reporting by posting a Pakistan based BBC /Urdu video footage of an agitation in POK as an agitation in Indian Kashmir and making wild comments about firing and injuries . To add insult to injury it called Indian Kashmir as Indian occupied Kashmir in aftermath of repeal of article 370 in J&K .

This enraged the Indian community and Shekhar Kapoor the film maker who made a move on queen Elizabeth-1 , asked why BBC does not refer to Ireland as British occupied Ireland . It got immediate support of enraged Indian community on net . It is important to understand why Shekhar Kapoor is right about a protestant Britain forcefully occupying the Catholic Ireland which too fought British occupation for a long time till it reached an agreement with Tony Blair  government in 1998 in an agreement known as Belafst / Good Friday agreement . Catholic Irish people resisted Protestant British till in 1536 Henry – 8 decided to conquer Ireland  .But English could not convert Irish people to catholics inspite of hundreds of years of its rule over Ireland . The armed resistance continued in varying degree . In late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Britain tried settling Protestants Britishers in Ireland and launched land confiscation and other oppressive measures against Irish people . 17th  century was the most brutal period till Oliver Cromewel recaptured Ireland again in 1651 . Ireland again revolted in 1798 but it was suppressed with a heavy hand .In 1800 Ireland’s parliament was abolished .

Ireland’s population dropped from 8 million to 4.4 million due to great famine of 1845-49. Like Indian Zamindars , 10000 British families owned the land and Irish people were tenants cultivating land .In 1898 local government ( Ireland ) Act was passed . By 1912 as first world war erupted a war for independence started again in Ireland . In 1919 Irish Parliament was reconstituted . In 1922 22 counties separted and formed a new country Northern Ireland which renamed itself as Ireland and proclaimed a Republic in 1949. From 1972 to 1999 northern Ireland was under a direct rule of British Cabinet through a nominated minister. Irish Repulican Army resisted the British rule often by violent methods .

Belfast  agreement on 10 th April 1998 ended violence by a power sharing agreement . But this too failed . in 2007 Provisional Irish Army was finally disarmed and peace returned to the troubled region  .

So Shekhar Kapoor was right in reminding the BBC to call British occupied Ireland . It is hoped that it will see its folly before referring to Indian Kashmir as Indian Occupied Kashmir . BBC should now come to terms with Indian independence .