Click to play videoIndian and Pakistani leaders have ruled out war as an option to end the stalemate created by the Mumbai terror attacks but the media in both countries has been taking a bellicose stand and some say that Indian and Pakistani journalists have been acting like nationalists instead of like journalists.
Are Indian and Pakistani media creating jingoism? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this on Face The Nation to senior Pakistani journalist and the Editor Geo TV news channel Hamid Mir; Strategic Affairs Editor of The Hindu newspaper Siddharth Varadarajan; and a former editor of the Panchjanya, the magazine of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Tarun Vijay.
NO DEBATE
“People were outraged after what happened in Mumbai, but there is no doubt that media has contributed to heightening the sense of helplessness and jingoism in the society,” said Varadarajan.
“The media created a sort of spectacle and suggested that now is the time for war. Media has the responsibility of generating an informed discussion but many such discussions were not informed,” he said.
Journalists are being arrogant when they take up the task of framing public opinion - they must reflect it, said Vijay. Indian journalism hasn’t got a bad name because of war mongering but because of secular journalists acting as “apologists” for terrorists.
“The so called secular press has been behaving as apologists for Afzal Guru (Parliament attack convict on death row) and other such people. Who are you (journalists) to guide public opinion? You are there to reflect public opinion,” said Vijay.
Should then journalists report that public opinion wants to bomb Pakistan? Yes, said Vijay. “The duty of the journalist to report that this what the people of India want.”
THE PAKISTAN VIEW
The Indian Prime Minister on Tuesday ruled out war with Pakistan. Other senior officials of his Government have spoken with restraint before. How does the Pakistani media react to their statements?
“I am very thankful that Manmohan Singh gave this statement but very journalists and media outlets in Pakistan will appreciate this,” said Mir. “Very few newspapers will make it a headline and I apprehend that in India too this statement of the Prime Minister will not be appreciated in many media outlets.”
Mir believed a journalist’s job is to report what people say and do and when they give their analysis they must not create “war hysteria”.
The Pakistani media has taken on dictators, challenged the army and helped creating a democracy movement. But does it tow the official line when it comes to reporting on India and the Mumbai terror attacks?
Mir denied this. “A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court against my TV channel. An Urdu newspaper has declared me an Indian agent for talking peace. There are other journalists and editorial writers who are in minority but are raising their voice against war hysteria in Pakistan,” he said.
“From day one these journalists have been saying the people responsible for the killing the innocent people in Mumbai are not only the enemy of India but also of Pakistan.”
LOSING THE STORY
The “story” after the Mumbai terror attacks has been harmed because of the lack of professionalism among Indian journalists, said Varadarajan.
“The Government of India accused elements from Pakistan (for the terror attacks). That phrase was chosen because the Government realised it was dealing with multiple Pakistans. When you collapse that Government phrase and use a headline that says ‘Pakistan responsible’ you allow all these Pakistans to merge together and allow the army there to take advantage and rally everyone under its banner. That is what has happened.”
Was the Pakistani media’s response a reaction to what was said and reported by the India during and after the attacks? It was, said Mir.
“In the first three-four days of this crisis, Pakistani media was only reacting what was coming from the Indian media. We were playing the role of a reactionary media but then I noticed saner voices in the Indian media and so we took initiative and started raising the same kind of voices.
“There was a positive reaction from the Pakistani masses and that encouraged us. Now many journalists are writing and criticising this war hysteria. This was a test and learning process for the Indian and Pakistan media.”
Vijay “saluted” Pakistani journalists for their fearlessness. “There are poisonous people there and poisonous people here. There are prejudiced people here and prejudiced people there.” It is journalists who should mark out the difference.
SMS poll on: are Indian and Pakistani media creating jingoism?
Yes: 71 per cent.
No: 29 per cent.
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