MEDIA jingoism is not new. But the spectacle of news and talk show anchors frothing at the mouth as they call for a war against Pakistan, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, verges on psychosis. There appears to be no space for saner voices amid the beat of war drums. With the rise of media warriors, the basic tenets of objective journalism have long been lost. The campaign for the annihilation of another country and deliberate killing of an entire population is sickening.

Interestingly, the Indian electronic media — with a few exceptions — turned hysterical minutes after the terrorist attack on the popular tourist spot in occupied Kashmir. Without waiting for an investigation, the media, most of it controlled by big business groups linked to the right-wing Hindu nationalist ruling party, started to point fingers across the border. Some of them even laid out their own war plan much before the Indian government announced a series of punitive actions against Pakistan.

A section of the Pakistani media, too, is not without a xenophobic approach. Religion is also often misused to whip up bigotry in this country. Yet the madness witnessed on the Indian media has no precedent. TV channels spewing hate and demanding retribution against a rival country, without substantiating its culpability, have crossed all limits of rationality and objectivity.

Such frenzy cannot be separated from the prevailing political environment in India. The jingoism witnessed on the Indian media is a manifestation of the rising nationalist militancy and hegemonic approach in that country. Even mainstream journalists and media........

© Dawn