A ceasefire is holding on the western front with Pakistan, but the war continues in television news studios.
The onslaught is being led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his fervent patriotic victory parades and combative speeches in Gujarat, this week where he said that India’s military action had left Pakistan’s airbases in “ICU’’.
According to news channels, Operation Sindoor certainly brought “Pakistan on its knees” (India TV, India Today) and left Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif quaking in his shoes.
No wonder Sharif went rushing to Iran and Turkey for support. So unnerved was he by India’s actions and PM Modi’s warning that he pleaded for a “peace deal” in Tehran (India Today) and was looking to purchase the SİPER air defence system from Turkey – at least according to Zee Bharat.
That’s the least of it. If News Nation is to be believed, Sharif was to be placed under arrest. “Something big is going to happen in Pakistan,” the channel added with unconcealed glee.
Something “big’’ is happening in Manipur too – “Protesters lock Central govt. offices in Manipur,’’ wrote The Hindu (28 May). But who cares? Not the TV news channels.
They are more interested in the behaviour of Jyoti Malhotra, the YouTuber arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan. Many Hindi news channels ran a video of her strolling through a market in Lahore, accompanied by gunmen wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “No Fear” on the back – “More than Delhi, she loves Karachi,” claimed Times Now Navbharat.
‘Unrealistic scenes’
The TV news channels are in constant combat: India TV has named its prime time afternoon show as ‘War Room’.
We witness daily, if not hourly, sonic attacks of very high frequency on Pakistan that, by now, should have reduced the country to rubble. We see skirmishes between the BJP and the Congress frequently leading to all-out war. We hear one Congress leader attack another Congress leader – Udit Raj took aim at Shashi Tharoor for being a “super spokesperson of BJP” – and we watch TV anchors decimate the opposition parties for trying to breach the government’s defences with questions about the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian military losses during Operation Sindoor, and the temerity of US President Donald Trump to claim victory in halting the cross-border conflict.
There’s so much aggression on air that fellow TV anchors are fighting each other on live TV. Listen to this rat-a-tat-tat, tit-for-tat between Rajdeep Sardesai and Gaurav Sawant on India Today.
Prime Minister Modi’s speeches in Gujarat brought out the TV troops out in large numbers—alongside the lakhs of people on the streets. The visuals showed people and the Indian flag lining the entire route of the PM’s procession as he waved and smiled at them.
The reporters and anchors were so excited you could almost see their chest expand to 52 inches. One reporter on Republic TV got completely carried away by the PM’s demeanour: “See, see his body structure…,’’ he exclaimed before correcting himself, “Sorry, his body language—it speaks self-confidence.’’
For the rest, they had sindoor running through their veins too—just like the PM. “PM replies with Sindoor,” said NDTV 24×7.
“These are unrealistic scenes,’’ added the NDTV reporter, “Lakhs of people coming out, waving flags…”.
“30,000 women are out there on the streets,” said India Today. “Son of the Soil in Gujarat,” proclaimed Times Now.
“This is a salute to the bravery of our men,” announced a Republic TV reporter, “this is true unity of the people—there is no BJP flag here, only the Indian tricolour,’’ he added.
The women interviewed by TV reporters were on the same page: “PM taking sindoor ka badla,” said one woman to India Today.
On CNN-News 18, a woman said only a woman knows the cost of sindoor but “Modi understood and we are proud of Modi and the army.’’
“We are so happy that it was named Operation Sindoor, it has a symbolic meaning…,’’ added another woman.
Men, interviewed by the TV channels, were equally patriotic: “We are very happy,” said one to Times Now, “Operation Sindoor ne Pakistan ko mitti mein mila diya.’’
Also read: How Modi set the mood for TV news, op-eds—Pahalgam to Operation Sindoor
Taking a cue
The TV news channels take their cue from the PM – everyone knows that. So, it came as no surprise when on Tuesday, after PM Modi said that Congress ignored Sardar Patel’s advice to reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 1947 and that the Indus Waters Treaty “was badly negotiated”, news channels targeted Congress.
Suddenly, we were transported back to 1947. Across channels, news images of Nehru and Patel were splashed on the screen. Everyone wanted to discuss this. “Sardar Patel’s advice was ignored?” asked ABP News.
What’s piquant about this shift from the successes of Operation Sindoor to Jawaharlal Nehru’s alleged mistakes is that the PM spoke about them on Nehru’s death anniversary – 27 May.
How’s that for timing?
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)