Media as the fourth pillar of the state plays an important role in perception building. The magic bullet theory by Harold Lasswell explained the impact of media and how its message is like a bullet fired into the viewer’s head, and is this platform used throughout history to achieve national goals and interests.
Madam Noor Jahan is one of those whose service is recognized in the 1965 War, her tunes and music created a spirit of courage and resilience in the Pakistan Army and the public during the war. The same entertainment industry could be having devastating impacts contributing towards misperceptions, propaganda, and information warfare. If we talked about the Indian media industry, it is contributing more towards propaganda, radicalization, and extremism. The report of the World Press Freedom Index 2022 highlights India’s ranking has fallen to 150 out of 180 countries. Their media is not allowed to raise objections to the radical policies of the government. Their corruption is also not highlighted in the media such as in the Rafale fighter jet deal. The media maintained a precautious silence over the Rafale controversy to cover up Modi Sarkar for its megacorruption. It is focused on targeting minorities, particularly Muslims, building their negative perception, excluding and marginalizing them hence contributing towards islamophobia. TThe Indian media narrative, powered by the visceral demonization of Muslims, is tarnishing their image internationally.
The recent controversy sparked over The Kashmir Files after the recent comments made by the head of the international jury, Nadav Lapid, an Israeli filmmaker, at the International Film Festival of India. The Kashmir Files is also a chain of the agenda. The way the Bharatiya Janata Party was endorsing the movie by saying all should watch it. It highlights how the media industry is working on the framework of the BJP ideology. The RSS also came out in support of the movie calling it a ‘historical reality’ that must be presented to the generations as fact.
The movie is based on the mass exodus of Hindu Pandits from Kashmir in the 1990s. It is filled with factual inaccuracies, propaganda, and is frightening in its relentless targeting of every Muslim represented on screen. There is an exaggeration of every incident. The movie claimed that 500,000 to 700,000 Kashmiri Pandits were residing in Kashmir Valley. Contrary to this their estimated population was 170,000. The Kashmir Files claimed 50,000 to 700,000 Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley in the 1990s while as per the response of the Region’s Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner 135,426 Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley. Furthermore, the movie claimed that almost 4000 Kashmiri Pandits were killed while the region’s police department put the number at 89. The events of brutalities highlighted in the movie are also fabricated to instigate hatred toward Muslims.
Lapid claimed The Kashmir Files to be a vulgar propaganda movie, having fascist features. He considered the movie to be inappropriate for the artistic competitive section. Moreover, the movie was included in the International Film Festival of India due to political pressure. The movie is crude and violent, it can be compared to the movies of Leni Reifenstahl, a Nazi propagandist.
Indian media attempts to justify the brazen Hindu extremism of the present Indian policy in Kashmir. India has lost its secular image which it has somehow maintained in the past. From the largest secular democratic state, India has turned into an autocratic state. The Indian media is the depiction of India’s further descent into bigotry, working on BJP ideology. The jury head is receiving hundreds and thousands of threat messages. Intolerance is rising in society due to the radicalized policies of the state. India under the BJP government has left secularism far behind and embarked on a rapid descent into the darkness filled with radicalization, fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, and bigotry.
Lapid further added that he did not know everything about the Kashmir conflict but still he cold recognize the propaganda when he saw the movie. Amixed response came from the public after watching the movie, some were calling it totally fake, and even a Hindu woman called it an attempt to make a Hindu-Muslim fight. The critics of the movie were openly called terrorists by the director of the movie, Vivek Agnihotri.
The passive audience is worst affected, they were showing their anguish and hatred towards Muslims, which was the real purpose behind the movie. One of the Hindu men in the cinema after watching the movie shouts, ‘you have all seen what happened to the Kashmiri Hindus and Hindus must protect themselves against the treachery of Muslims and prepare to take up arms.’ From the audience one of the Hindu men agitated by the movie urged others to marry Muslim girls to preserve their religion. They have criminalized the very presence of Muslims through opposition to public prayer and hijab bans. The film has been accused of inciting communal hate.
Indian media attempts to justify the brazen Hindu extremism of the present Indian policy in Kashmir. India has lost its secular image which it has somehow maintained in the past. From the largest secular democratic state, India has turned into an autocratic state. The Indian media is the depiction of India’s further descent into bigotry, working on BJP ideology. The jury head is receiving hundreds and thousands of threat messages. Intolerance is rising in society due to the radicalized policies of the state. India under the BJP government has left secularism far behind and embarked on a rapid descent into the darkness filled with radicalization, fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, and bigotry.
