[“Barbaric”, “Mutilated”, “Beheaded”, “Butchery”, “India Salutes Its Braves”, we need “Revenge”, “Justice for Jawans”, “2 of our soldiers, 10 of yours”, no — “For 2, give us 50 heads”, time to “bleed the enemy” because “War is the only solution” — is it “Time for Surgical Strike 2.0?” WAR”. ... Should news channels orchestrate and amplify war cries? Could this combined pressure from the families, the public and TV news channels limit the government’s options, as senior journalist Vinod Sharma suggested on Rajya Sabha TV? Defense analyst Ajai Shukla commented that the farther people are from the (Indo-Pak) border, the more they want war (NDTV India). Could that be so?
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/telescope-the-belligerent-box-indian-army-soldiers-mutilated-line-of-control-4639549/ Telescope: The belligerent box News TV has ratcheted up the anti-Pakistan rhetoric Written by Shailaja Bajpai | Published:May 4, 2017 12:05 am ***“Barbaric”, “Mutilated”, “Beheaded”, “Butchery”, “India Salutes Its Braves”, we need “Revenge”, “Justice for Jawans”, “2 of our soldiers, 10 of yours”, no — “For 2, give us 50 heads”, time to “bleed the enemy” because “War is the only solution” — is it “Time for Surgical Strike 2.0?”*** [Emphasis added.] ***“WAR”.*** [Emphasis added.] Is this reminiscent of another occasion when very similar, if not identical, words were used? Was it September 2016? Like then, news channels have now spent 48 hours, and counting, in a vortex of violent emotions, whipping up a heady concoction of patriotism — “the entire nation is united in one voice” against “Pak Butchery” (India Today), hatred for the “dushman” whom ABP showed eating raw birds or some other fowl meat (is there a pun in that?) and loud war-mongering: “Is war the solution?” (SMBC in association with Swaraj Express), “Ab nahin bachegi” BAT — Pakistan’s Border Action Team (ABP), with Saare Jahan Se Achcha playing in the background (Zee News). The beheading of two Indian soldiers is inhumanly brutish. Everyone is horrified, revolted, outraged and looking to the Indian government to act so that, as news TV said, “the sacrifice of the jawans goes not in vain”. On Monday and Tuesday, TV news provided carpet coverage of the horrific crime and the responses to it from the government, from opposition parties — questioned by channels like Times Now for “playing politics” by questioning the government, but the government was not questioned at all about anything — and from the families of the “martyred” men and others of their villages — the latter appealed for “revenge”. Watching TV news coverage of the last rites of Paramjit Singh in his hometown in Taran Taran on Tuesday evoked both sympathy and sorrow in all who watched. All of this is as it should be, although you could quibble with the non-stop nature of the coverage, but that’s the way Indian TV news is and has been for some years now. Channels were also freely expressing their own opinion — as is their wont — of the incident and the nature of India’s response: “Zee Take” on Tuesday evening, for example, felt that “jung” was an option. This was a common theme on Hindi and English TV news. ***Should news channels orchestrate and amplify war cries? Could this combined pressure from the families, the public and TV news channels limit the government’s options, as senior journalist Vinod Sharma suggested on Rajya Sabha TV? Defense analyst Ajai Shukla commented that the farther people are from the (Indo-Pak) border, the more they want war (NDTV India). Could that be so?*** [Emphasis added.] Let’s rewind to December 1999, when Indian Airlines Flight 814 was hijacked on its way from Kathmandu to Delhi, landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. At the end of seven days, India agreed to release three militants, including Maulana Masood Azhar, who has since been implicated in other terrorist actions. At the time, the highly emotional reactions of the families of those on the hijacked plane and the public pressure for the quick release of the hostages, broadcast continuously on TV news, was believed to have forced the government’s hand in releasing the terrorists. This may or may not be the case, but certainly, as TV news now gives voice to calls for a war-like response to the beheading of Indian soldiers, we ought to recall IC 814. On a more positive note, WION’s interview with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan not only made news with his views on a “multilateral” approach to solving the Kashmir issue, but was a good, balanced interview with Ramesh Ramachandran, not shy of asking tough questions on the recent referendum in Turkey, the Kurdish problem and press freedom. Also worth watching was the interview with Chetan Cheetah on India Today. The CRPF commandant who served in Kashmir survived nine serious bullet wounds and regained consciousness after two months in a coma. There he was, one eye bandaged, alongside his wife, talking about his experience. India — and others — should salute him. [email protected] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
