A controversial documentary on J&K titled "Kashmir: Palestine in the Making" was scheduled to be streamed on February 11, drawing strong backlash and being called out for its affiliation with Russia. In a bid to stay clear of the controversy, the Russian Embassy in India has distanced itself from the Berlin-based digital video outlet Redfish Media.
Redfish Media, in its upcoming documentary, compares Kashmir to the new-age Palestine and the trailer of the film tweeted by the outlet says the UT is "fast becoming a settler-colonial state." Due to the derogatory nature of the documentary, the outlet faced strong backlash, which extended to the Russian government after Twitter labeled the organisation as "Russia state-affiliated media."
Redfish is affiliated to RT, which describes itself as "an autonomous, non-profit organisation that is publicly financed from the budget of the Russian Federation", hence the connection. Yet, the Russian Embassy in India denied having any links to Redfish and called the label "nothing but misleading." It also reaffirmed its policy of "non-interference" on the Kashmir issue.
2nd ➡️ #Russia's official position on the issue of Kashmir & our principled stance on non-interference in bilateral disputes remain unchanged. The solution should be found between India & Pakistan only, it should be based on the achieved agreements ➡️ https://t.co/Gm3oOWjdaM https://t.co/DgI4glvtuR
— Russia in India ?? (@RusEmbIndia) February 6, 2022
"The misleading label of this channel in Twitter as 'Russia state-affiliated media' does not make it automatically related to any state support. The channel functions independently with regard to its editorial policy," the embassy said in a statement on Sunday.
"However, it is hoped that the complexity and historical background of this and other regional issues will be given due understanding and balanced approach, which is expected from any professional media," the embassy added.
Redfish state-affiliation and damage control
Redfish is seen defending its documentary after its trailer attracted backlash and criticism. It said the content "is balanced and includes the perspectives of all stakeholders, including the BJP in Jammu Kashmir and Kashmiri activists".
Redfish also tried to do damage control by reiterating Russia's statement on any affiliation.
"We understood that Kashmir is a provocative topic, but were astounded to see the backlash targeted not at our work, but at a bemused Russian Embassy in New Delhi, prompting the latter to clarify in a statement that Twitter's label has no bearing on reality, and they have nothing to do with our editorial decisions," it said.
But Redfish's state-affiliation is clear. While Twitter defines state-affiliated media based on outlets where the states exercise control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressure and/or control over production and distribution, a 2018 report by The Daily Beast had claimed that Redfish wasn't as independent as it portrayed. In fact, its reports were said to be "product of an in-house team of staff correspondents and producers, most of whom last worked for Russian government media."
However, due to the backlash owing to the release of the documentary, the media outlet has decided to postpone the release in the "interest of the safety of both crew and participants," it said in a press release.
