The bedrock of a functional, healthy democracy requires free media that anchors its reputation on verified news and information. India, for quite some time a self-professed world’s largest democracy, took pride in its free media, which has a heavy responsibility regarding the evolution of democracy in its country. It seems that those days are gone, and the Indian media has fallen prey to disinformation. The recent escalation between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam incident unveiled the hidden face of Indian media. Since the incident, it has been seen how disinformation has played a central role in creating hysteria-led discourse during the conflict.

At the outset, Indian media, without contemplating or investigating the basics of investigative journalism, blamed Pakistan for the attack. This initial unverified reporting morphed into studio patriotism, where show after show and news after news created an environment where the world’s largest democracy seemed hijacked in the hands of paranoid media outlets. Such a gimmick employed through media presents a special case where media can be used to manipulate to an extent where outcomes between two nuclear states cannot be undone. There is another angle where it can be said that the world’s largest population was left hostage to these Indian media outlets to create manufactured outrage against Pakistan among ordinary Indians. The Indian electronic media had taken the lead over print media; TV channels declared war on big cities through their transmission, and they even announced that the Indian army had entered Pakistan on the night between May 6 and 7, when in reality India had targeted innocent lives and religious seminaries with missiles in Pakistan.

South Asian countries need to devise a forum where the nexus between media, domestic politics, and foreign policy objectives, operating through disinformation, can be stopped from endangering the region’s security.

The orchestration of disinformation theatrics during the recent conflict raises serious concerns about Indian democracy and, secondly, about the Indian media. Let’s look at the present political government of India, which is ruled by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is akin to them to drag Pakistan into their domestic politics. The BJP is habitual of systematically marginalising minorities in India by spreading hate among their people. Their modus operandi works on the philosophy of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which supports the superiority of Hindus over the rest of the religious minorities. The ideology of RSS is not only limited to the present-day geographical boundaries, it seeks to engulf present-day Pakistan, Bangladesh and other smaller states in South Asia to manifest their ideology of Akhand Bharat. Therefore, it can be inferred that the recent conflict exposed India and its foreign objectives, where having a good economy and bigger size made them frenzied to crush their neighbour based on an entirely baseless concocted story. Indian democracy is under serious threat and its societal rubric is constantly infused by the politics of hate and religious division that has put the safety of South Asia at risk. Indian media degraded its reputation by instilling fear of being called out by the BJP government. Therefore, they became the government’s mouthpiece the day after the Pahalgam incident. Indian media did not report; it created war in the recent conflict through sensationalism and disinformation. The practice of Indian media raised a serious question about its credibility in the viewers’ eyes. The independence of Indian media and its renowned journalists’ news authenticity are also being scrutinised severely. They have played a critical role in fueling war sentiment by instilling outrage among ordinary people. Such practice during conflict needs thorough research and overhauling, where the media plays a central role in executing military strategy against a sovereign state by spreading disinformation and inciting unverified alarmism in the country. Such a role of the media needs to be curtailed by engaging international media watchdogs to save people from war and jingoism. The spread of disinformation through the media during conflict affects the psychological health of an audience.

India is the largest country in South Asia. It is, therefore, essential to address its belligerent attitude towards its neighbouring country. No one in the region can be spared from such an attitude. Otherwise, Indian media would act again as a tool for manufactured outrage. South Asian countries need to devise a forum where the nexus between media, domestic politics, and foreign policy objectives, operating through disinformation, can be stopped from endangering the region’s security. The recent escalation unveiled the Indian government, which can use false pretexts for aggression against smaller states in the area. India is becoming a hegemon, and the Indian media is working on the playbook given by the fascist BJP. The future of peaceful South Asia demands that India be held accountable through multilateral forums and further the cause of peaceful coexistence. The disinformation spread by the Indian media cannot go unchecked, as it could set a precedent where the media’s provoked hypernationalism leaves no room for the peace process to settle disputes. Indian foreign policy as of now towards Pakistan in particular and the rest of the South Asian countries in general would face severe public scrutiny due to the media-instilled outrage and hatred in the general public.

As mentioned earlier, India is pursuing dangerous Akhand Bharat foreign policy objectives in the region. Disinformation is part and parcel of their approach. Pakistan, along with other South Asian countries, must join together to form an independent media forum that can prevent such a level of disinformation from occurring in future conflicts. The protocols in media forums must curtail the spread of unverified news through media outlets during armed conflict among South Asian countries. It would pave the way for settling disputes. Otherwise, the recent disinformation campaign run by the Indian media against Pakistan would widen the gulf, add to the hatred and lessen the chances for negotiations between the parties.