*WASHINGTON – On February 14, an Indian paramilitary convoy was attacked inPulwama in Occupied Kashmir, resulting in the death of 44 Indian officers. *
*The Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike on an alleged militanttraining camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. IndianForeign Secretary VK Gokhale claimed that it ‘struck the biggest camp’ andthat a ‘large number’ of terrorists were killed.*
Without any official statement on the number of casualties by the Indiangovernment, the Indian news media reported that 300 terrorists were killed,citing government sources.
But Pakistan responded by rejecting these claims and told the AssociatedPress that the area was “mostly deserted wooded area” and that there wereno casualties or damage on the ground.
This discrepancy is just one example of the confusion and misinformationspread to the public by deeply flawed media reports.
Our investigation into the Indian media’s reporting on the Pulwama attackfound that many reports were contradictory, biased, incendiary anduncorroborated. News organizations such as India Today, NDTV, News 18, theIndian Express, First Post, Mumbai Mirror, ANI and others routinelyattributed their information to anonymous “government sources,” “forensicexperts,” “police officers” and “intelligence officers.”
No independent investigations were conducted, and serious questions aboutintelligence failures were left unanswered.
The Indian government bears some responsibility for this: Amid thisbrinkmanship between the two nuclear powers, Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi did not address the nation directly. The two press briefings by theforeign secretary and Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson entertainedno questions.
But the number of anonymous sources willing to disclose classified andconflicting information to reporters who cited them without corroborationpoints to a serious crisis in how information is reported to the public.
Once we eliminated the spectacle, we realized that the Indian public gotvery little information about the Pulwama attack and its aftermath. Beyondthe confusion over the death tolls at Balakot, news organizations variouslyreported that between 25 and 350 kilograms of the explosive RDX was used inthe attack, when no such information was officially released.
Reports also identified different people as the supposed masterminds of thePulwama attack at various points without clear sourcing.
More than two weeks after the attack, our analysis finds that no news sitehad rectified the errors in their reporting, leaving these misleading factsas a matter of public record.
Instead, the Indian media has ascribed to itself the role of an amplifierof the government propaganda that took two nuclear states to the brink ofwar. Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of militarycommand centers, with anchors assessing military technology and strategy(sometimes incorrectly).
Some even dressed for the occasion in combat gear. Speculation andconjecture were repeated ad infinitum, and several journalists even took toTwitter to encourage the Indian army.
This media blitzkrieg resulted in the erasure of two important politicaltrends. First, the escalation in the counterinsurgency war within theOccupied Kashmir Valley — under which hundreds of activists were arrestedand several Kashmiri civilians killed in gun battles — was grievouslyunderreported. This contributed to the long-running, brutal silencing ofKashmiris and their struggle for self-determination.
All too often, the Indian media portrays Kashmiris as terrorists or humanshields, not as a community seeking self-determination.
Second, as the media continued to promote government positions on thecrisis, other critical political issues dropped out of public scrutiny. Thecontroversy surrounding the Rafale deal and allegations of corruptionagainst the government were suddenly sidelined, as was the order for theeviction of more than a million forest dwellers (that was later stayed) anda hearing on the repeal of an important constitutional clause before theSupreme Court.
The entire episode is emblematic of a broader trend in Indian media. Manynews channels are not only owned, operated or invested in by politicallyinfluential families, but also are sometimes run for the express purpose ofadvancing party positions.
To make matters worse, between 2013 and 2019, editors of channels andpublications have been sacked and replaced, primarily because of theircriticism of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
As such, very few media establishments in India have been able to standagainst the influence of political leaders. Now, along with the media’slegitimization of an ideology that promotes violence — including riots andlynchings — its performance after Pulwama leaves severe doubts as towhether it is engaged in journalism or the propagation of Hindumajoritarianism.
Without a political solution, Kashmir will undoubtedly emerge in upcomingnews cycles. The Indian media must learn to portray the conflict and humanrights violations in the region in a more nuanced way, and not reduceKashmir to a catalogue of death, destruction and emergency laws.
More importantly, reporters need to engage with what it means to administerwhat has been called “the world’s most militarized zone.”
Only then can the country answer a more fundamental question: Just whatshould be done to create conditions that allow Kashmiris to choose theirdestiny? That, perhaps, is the only way to avoid further destruction in theregion. *–Washington Post*