THE suspension of disbelief required to follow the Indian media these days must qualify as an extreme sport. One imagines viewers needing a cup of tea and a lie-down afterwards, if only to reorient with reality.

Consider, for example, the breathless ‘coverage’ that has been aired by several Indian news channels regarding their military’s campaign against Pakistan. During Thursday night’s transmissions, one claimed that Islamabad had fallen, another that Peshawar had been bombed; one that Lahore was in the crosshairs of Indian tanks, and another that the Karachi port was in flames. One promised that an F-16 had been shot down, while another that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had surrendered. But it was the gaggle of ‘experts’ on a live Times Now broadcast, excitedly proclaiming that a ground invasion of Pakistan was underway, that truly captured the absurdity of it all.

Truth is the first casualty of war, but it is nonetheless jarring to witness its assassination on such an industrial scale. That the fog of war obscures the truth is understandable, but for newsrooms to actively add to the fog rather than try to pierce it, less so. That said, the media on this side of the border is also not above blame. A few television channels and the so-called experts featured on them have been acting irresponsibly. They must avoid unconfirmed or unverified reports and concentrate more on sensible reporting.

But at least Pakistani media is publicly censured when it is unable to do justice to its duty. Many will openly state that they do not trust it to report truthfully and reliably and will be more open to what independent sources and foreign media have to say. One wonders if there is a similar level of self-awareness next door, where major news networks seem engaged in a race to outdo each other in patriotic theatre, unmoored from any discernible restraint.

Reports that social media platforms like X and Meta have been ‘legally’ coerced into blocking thousands of accounts to protect New Delhi’s narratives should invite global concern over the health of the world’s so-called ‘largest democracy’. More so because the ‘information’ being fed to the Indian people is patently false, dangerously misleading, and designed to whip up base sentiments. Media irresponsibility can lead to the creation of unrealistic expectations in the minds of ordinary people, and these expectations, when unmet, often turn into pressure on leaders to ‘do more’ against the perceived enemy. This is how skirmishes escalate into battles, and battles into full-blown wars. It bears repeating that in times of crisis, it is the journalists’ job to inform, not inflame. The dereliction of this duty has dangerous real-world consequences. Media on both sides of the border would do well to heed this warning.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2025