Mumbai : The Indian army conducted surgical strikes last night at some launch pads and with that, India went public with what looks like a paradigm shift in the country’s battle against terrorist groups acting from bases on the Pakistani side of the LoC which divides Jammu and Kashmir.
With the decreasing night, it wasn’t just a matter of political interest anymore. On Thursday, Bollywood conducted a surgical strike on Indian TV news channels as well. And since Indian media is quite versed with the fact that flagging patriotism is the precise and quickest route to TRPs, in the process, not only the real warriors but even the news channels have crossed the LoC of what has traditionally defined good journalism since decades.
Not so surprisingly, this briefing caused a Twitter tornado in India, with a flood of applauding tweets and congratulatory words flattering the Indian army for its brawny action. A key operator of New Delhi’s decision to launch strikes across the border, however, seems to have been the frequently public opinion-driven media discussion. With outrage among Indians growing – especially among those running on social media – military planners and Indian policymakers knew that only a military acknowledgement or response would pacify the enraged spirits of citizens.
However, what followed was a bit of an exaggeration, as if it wasn’t enough already to dunk your head in every kind of medium to find ‘actual news’. We have our heroes identified, and our villains too. Flagging the tricolour, it is a moment for the media to make citizens fall prey to anything and everything they show.
As the Pakistan defence minister felt a desire for chest-beating on the other side of the Wagah, warning to drop nukes on India, the real debate on Indian TV studios on this was reduced to nothing, but a joke.
Any sort of mockery in the present scenario can only do so much good. What about the aftermath? What about the actual war? What would happen to the Indian environment and economy if they actually push the nuclear button?
No shouting at each other, at the highest forms of decibels, would then come to rescue. The main cause of all this massacre, Kashmir, is anyway hardly ever discussed. It’s become more like an everyday activity, an insignificant one. No wonder the journalists cannot handle the wrath of Kashmiris, even if they are reporting the most unbiased, ground zero report from Kashmir. The anger is nothing but the by-product of social media and TV channels who have consistently crossed the ‘line of control’ in presenting the real Kashmir issue.
Jokes being advertised on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms are often a sign of what mood is urban India in. And TV channels have been proactive in recognising it and even acting upon it. Naturally, they decide to put news in the form of some soap opera or an event, that it even puts the daily soaps scripts to shame. Be it the what’s app forwarded messages like, ‘recalling actor Rajkumar’s from Saudagar: Hum tumhe maarenge aur zaroor maarenge, lekin wo bandook bhi hamari hogi, goli bhi hamari hogi aur waqt bhi hamara hoga (We will strike you hard, but the weapon, bullet and time of that strike will be our choice), or umpteen number of hashtags that follow, #wewillstrikeyouhard, #wearereadyforit etc, sensationalising serious issues gives rise to violent protests. And it’s about time we get this right.
Be it Pakistani media, which is constantly in denial mode or the India media, which is in an ever-finger-pointing-cum-you-did-this role, both are warmongering in some way or the other. And the TV channels are only fanning the fire. These studio superheroes will advocate their own solution to an issue, which, goes without say, is essentially political. No amount of actions taken in the right direction or cordial talks is going to solve anything till the time the reportage is backed by a constant hate campaign on social media and on Prime Time shows.
