In war, truth is the first casualty. The Indian media, it would appear, isn’t happy to just kill the truth. Over the last few days, hysterical war-crazed news anchors, buoyed by trolls and pundits on social media, have made every effort to crush the truth, stomp on it, tear it up, chop it into fine pieces, set it on fire and throw away the ashes in the Indian Ocean.
When Greek dramatic Aeschylus (525/524 bc — 456/455 bc) coined the phrase, he may have been referring to the propaganda spread by states through scrolls and word of mouth. That was a simpler time — states could get away with untruths and falsehoods, with the other side none the wiser.
It takes a different kind of arrogance, however, to try to pull this off in the 21st century, when the information ecosystem is no longer inhibited by geographical limitations or even the imperative of a closed media landscape.
Into the metaverse
Over the last 24 hours, in particular, the kind of disinformation coming out of the Indian information ecosystem has been particularly bewildering — ranging from the incredulous to batshit crazy. To put this in context, here’s what the Indian media would have you believe was going on in Pakistan on the night of Thursday and Friday:
- The Karachi Port had been destroyed by the Indian Navy (It wasn’t, we
know. We had shrimp karahi and grilled Red Snapper at a restaurant
adjacent to it.)
- The Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir was arrested following a
coup (No one in Pakistan knows this but the Indian media is super confident.)
- The Indian Army had attacked and laid claim to Islamabad and Shehbaz Sharif had been shifted to a safe house (could they also please let us know where this ‘safe house’ is?)
- An F-16 or a JF-17 Pakistani fighter jet had been shot down (This one was confusing to the Indians too because they couldn’t decide which one they wanted to have shot down.)
- A Pakistan Air Force pilot had been captured (They really can’t get over Abhinandan, can they?)
- Lahore was overrun by Indian forces (What even is this obsession with Lahore? They’ll just misdirect you back to India)
It would be almost comical if it wasn’t so morose. Since the Indian military carried out airstrikes in Pakistan on Wednesday, over 31 civilians have been slain on this side of the border, while dozens have been injured. There are reports of casualties on the other side too. And while civilians pay the ultimate cost, the Indian media has continued to beat the war drums, cheering the BJP government’s unhinged rhetoric with some even calling for the complete annihilation of Pakistan — a country of 250 million people.
One can only imagine how dim-witted you have to be to cheer a war between two nuclear-armed countries. And yet, the Indian media seems to have no qualms about the impending doom should this escalate any further.
Let saner heads prevail
In a parallel universe, where sanity isn’t lost to jingoism and anchors aren’t screeching war cries, the media on both sides of the border would attempt to act as a communication bridge and simmer down tensions in a what is already a volatile situation.
Good journalism relies on facts, not fiction. Good journalism questions authorities’ actions, instead of inciting them to commit more acts of violence. Good journalism seeks to investigate rather than gulp down the state narrative. Most of all, good journalism calls for speaking the truth and trying to get the other side’s version, particularly in times of conflict where there is a huge cost to pay for the minutest misunderstanding.
Misreporting can also create panic among the people and pile on the pressure for action, giving rival actors little time to process and strategise before they make a move, leading to even graver consequences. Moreover, it is equally important to keep your own people adequately informed so they can make decisions for their own safety.
According to handbook on Conflict-Sensitive Reporting published by the German-based Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, in times of conflict, the media must play its role for consensus-building, correcting misconceptions and humanising the other side, among other functions.
Granted, there will always be the fog of war. A lack of credible, verifiable information, combined with misinformation are a part of conflict. It is difficult to know what is happening in real time, and even for a long time afterwards — but the Indian media went far beyond that to report entirely made-up events.
At the same time, the Indian media has never exactly been known for its predilection for the truth. In fact, quite the contrary — in 2016, the EU Disinfo Lab’s excellent report, titled India Chronicles, uncovered a rather sophisticated disinformation campaign involving “resurrected dead media, dead think-tanks and NGOs” to serve Indian interests.
But what we have witnessed over the last couple of days is one for the history books. It’s not just the self-proclaimed pundits on social media peddling the state’s narrative and dehumanising people on this side of the border; it’s not even the mainstream media’s blatant disregard for facts and accuracy when pushing the BJP government’s vitriol; what is most incredible is that many seemingly progressive voices seemed only too eager to jump the bandwagon and push the same falsehoods, sprinkled with cries of war and revenge.
All of this begs the question: was this all about ratings? Perhaps, but it is more likely a sloppy, panicked attempt to save face, even if temporarily, in front of a bloodthirsty population amid international confirmation of IAF jets being shot down. It was, after all, incredibly humiliating for India to lose multiple jets, especially the much-vaunted Rafale — the purchase of which was at the heart of a corruption scandal in India — in a single ‘surprise’ operation. Coincidentally, the media blitz began just before a Reuters story of US officials confirming it.
Perhaps this was part of the psychological operations against their own people to create the impression of a victorious India for the time being. What no one seemed to care about was a potential backlash from the masses who have been cheering them on once the truth does come out or even the dent in the credibility and moral legitimacy of the Indian media in the eyes of international observers.
As I write this, there are reports that the Indian government has banned The Wire, one of the few publications questioning the popular narrative. In a sea of yes-men, The Wire stood out, refusing to lap up the hateful rhetoric and trying to tell the full story. It’s about time more Indian journalists realise that becoming the BJP’s propaganda arm and spewing hate for those across the border will only take them so far — without credibility and the courage to speak to the truth, a journalist is but a pen-pusher.
