In war, truth is the first casualty. The Indian media, it would appear, isn’t happy to just kill the truth. Over the last few days, hysterical war-crazed news anchors, buoyed by trolls and pundits on social media, have made every effort to crush the truth, stomp on it, tear it up, chop it into fine pieces, set it on fire and throw away the ashes in the Indian Ocean.

When Greek dramatic Aeschylus (525/524 bc — 456/455 bc) coined the phrase, he may have been referring to the propaganda spread by states through scrolls and word of mouth. That was a simpler time — states could get away with untruths and falsehoods, with the other side none the wiser.

It takes a different kind of arrogance, however, to try to pull this off in the 21st century, when the information ecosystem is no longer inhibited by geographical limitations or even the imperative of a closed media landscape.

Over the last 24 hours, in particular, the kind of disinformation coming out of the Indian information ecosystem has been particularly bewildering — ranging from the incredulous to batshit crazy. To put this in context, here’s what the Indian media would have you believe was going on in Pakistan on the night of Thursday and Friday:

It would be almost comical if it wasn’t so morose. Since the Indian military carried out airstrikes in Pakistan on Wednesday, over 31 civilians have been slain on this side of the border, while dozens have been injured. There are reports of casualties on the other side too. And while civilians pay the ultimate cost, the Indian media has continued to beat........

© Dawn Prism