It’s been nearly four months since the brutal murder of Burhan Wani and the protests which were followed by a curfew and isolation in the Occupied Kashmir region. The Indian tyranny supported by the likes of Facebook might have led to the Kashmiri citizens being affected by psychological and mental ailments.
Data collated by the most popular search engine, Google, seems to suggest that the issue is indeed present. According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the long curfew and strict probations for the past four months has resulted in people staying indoors all the time. Experts cite this as a cause for the increasing psychological illnesses in the region.
Google says worlds like `depression’, `heart-related diseases’ are the most searched terms and have been trending in the last few months. Majority of these searches belong to the Jammu and Kashmir area.
According to the report, as many as 2771 internet users have looked for remedies available on the web for heart diseases in the last three months alone. The last 15 days of August contributed 748 search terms asking for online help for heart diseases. The number increased to 1281 in September. In October, 1895 people searched for the term “Heart problem” on Google.
Similarly, the word “depression” has been trending for the past three months too. Google Trends say the word has been searched by 2624 people in the Valley. August 15 onwards till the end of the month, 463 people had searched for ways and methods to control depression. The numbers kept on increasing in the next months.
It is unbelievable how the international media and NGOs are shush on the matter. Kashmir no longer seems to be an occupied area, instead, it seems as if the people in the region have been enslaved to follow what they are asked to do or they would be isolated or worse, killed.
Facebook has been banning accounts which share the Kashmiris problems while the Indian authorities have completely block the Kashmir region for reporters and foreign journalists. All of these are clear violations of the international human rights laws. Neither our government nor our media is highlighting the issue as much as they should. The Kashmiris not only need freedom of choice but also freedom from this enslavement they have been suffering from for the past several decades.