In February 2017, I posted this video tribute by Kashmiri rapper MC Kash to Maqbool Bhat & Afzal Guru (who were both hung in an Indian prison) asking that their remains be released so they can be buried with dignity in their homeland. Today, I was informed this violates community standards because it praises or supports dangerous individuals. Dangerous defined as “terrorist activity, organized hate or violence, mass or serial murder, human trafficking, criminal or harmful activity”. One government’s dangerous individuals are martyrs & freedom fighters to eight million Kashmiris.
Maqbool Bhat said: “For us, azadi means not just getting rid of foreign occupation of our beloved motherland but also to remove hunger, poverty, ignorance & disease & to overcome economic & social devastation. One day we will achieve that. Azadi.” Is that statement what the censors find so dangerous? Because to most of us not steeped in Hindutva ideology, the only thing it endangers is a brutal, genocidal occupation.