On June 19, 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Modi regime suddenly sacked the civilian government of Jammu and Kashmir, a coalition it had been part of, virtually pulling the rug out from under everyone. Then came August 5, 2019, when the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, guaranteeing special status to the erstwhile princely state, was scrapped. Kashmir, now downgraded to a union territory, lost its character forever and with that, the switch flipped – internet gone, phones dead, streets quiet but heavy with fear.
Right before things got even worse, Stephen Sackur from BBC’s HARDtalk cut through the haze, speaking with Shah Faesal in Delhi. Faesal, who had quit his government job earlier that year and founded the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement, laid it out plainly on the show – a rare, clear voice describing what it was like to live cut off, silenced, in a Kashmir swallowed by shadows.
The roughly 23-minute interview stands as a historical document, a writing on the wall, a witness to what happened on that fateful day. It concisely captures the brutality with which Kashmir was treated, struggling to break free from the dark chapters that fate had written for it.
BBC News has announced plans to close HARDtalk after three decades of holding the world’s politicians and power brokers to account, a decision that feels like it mirrors the fate Kashmir endured after the revocation of the Article 370. The move to scrap HARDtalk dismantles a platform that fearlessly pierced through spin to demand answers. Kashmir beyond Article 370 is a faded version of itself – its essence dulled, its people cut off – much like the BBC now risks becoming without HARDtalk’s bold scrutiny.
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This loss is acutely felt in contexts like Kashmir, where Hardtalk gave voice to figures such as Yasin Malik, Shah Faesal, and a host of Indian politicians, judges, and bureaucrats – individuals whose perspectives shaped narratives of conflict, governance and justice.
In 2002, Tim Sebastian, a stern face of the HARDtalk, interviewed Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), at a turning point in his shift from militancy to advocating “peace”.
Sebastian didn’t hold back, pressing Malik on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, the JKLF’s targeted attacks on this minority community, the deaths of two women in an assault on air force personnel, and the kidnapping of the then-home minister’s daughter.
This wasn’t just a conversation – it was a relentless probe that filled a critical gap, exposing the other side of the Kashmir story when local press was muzzled by secessionist pressures.
Malik openly admitted to the killing of a judge who had sentenced JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat to death – a rare moment of candour brought to light by the program’s probing style.
Without HARDtalk, such an admission might have stayed buried, especially in an era when the details of countless killings in Kashmir remain murky, with both sides – militants and security forces – offering conflicting accounts or maintaining a deliberate silence. The reality behind massacres like the slaughter of Kashmiri Pandits in Wandhama and Sikhs in Chattisinghpora, the Kunan Poshpora incident, and a string of other atrocities still eludes clarity to this day, shrouded in differing narratives.
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“Kashmir has long been a crucible for testing the limits of press freedom and political accountability,” Sajjad Haider, editor of Kashmir Observer, said. “The snuffing out of this vital voice creates a vacuum that emboldens unbridled power, stifles dissent, and heightens the risks of a world less accountable and more volatile.”
At a time when narratives were tightly controlled HARDtalk balanced the scales, offering a raw, unsparing look at the human cost and moral complexities of the conflict, Haider said.
In a recent HARDtalk interview Stephen Sackur grilled former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, sticking to the program’s signature tenacity by asking tough questions at a time when much of the Indian media has been accused of aligning with the government’s narrative over public concerns.
Sackur pressed Chandrachud on the legal validity of the Article 370 revocation, a decision he had helped uphold in 2023, probing whether it truly honoured the Constitution’s intent or bent to political will.
Sackur didn’t stop there, he dug deep into broader issues like the state of Muslims under BJP rule, judicial independence amid alleged political pressure, and high-profile cases like the Ram Temple judgment – questions that cut to the core of India’s democratic and legal fabric.
Another interview with N. Ram, Sachur peeled back the layers of Indian media’s dramatic shift – from a gutsy force when Tehelka magazine ran a sting operation exposing post-Godhra killers, later aired by Aaj Tak, to a tamed “lapdog” sidestepping any real clash with today’s ruling powers.
Ram, a veteran from The Hindu, laid bare how the press, once a scrappy watchdog, now often wags its tail for the establishment, dodging the tough fights it used to pick.
The loss of HARDtalk from the journalistic scene is profound for global journalism, particularly at a time when unfiltered voices are desperately needed to come to terms with the complexities of our world.
Globally, the stakes are even higher. HARDtalk’s cancellation comes as disinformation and authoritarianism surge, from Russia’s propaganda wars to China’s media clampdowns. The program’s absence weakens the BBC’s claim to be a bulwark against such forces, ceding ground to state-sponsored narratives that thrive in the absence of rigorous scrutiny.
The safety of the world hinges on informed discourse. When a platform like HARDtalk – capable of reaching 70 million viewers across 200 countries – disappears, the ripple effects are profound.
“At a time when disinformation and media manipulation are poisoning public discourse, HARDtalk is unique – a long-form interview show with only one mission: To hold to account those who all too often avoid accountability in their own countries,” Stephen Sackur puts it as frankly as he conducted the program.
Farooq Shah is a Kashmir-based journalist.
