Our neighbours are not only invading our sovereignty but they have been also virtually waging a psychological war from across the border through their television and radio channels. India seems to be a sitting duck
Strange as it may seem, despite India’s image of an amiable and polite nation, the country is surrounded by a league of adversaries with their noose always sharp to bait the hinterland and disturb the peace-cord of the nation. Needless to say, Pakistan is a major player in the league; China too is not far behind for all the obvious reasons. But what is most disconcerting is that the entire set of our neighbours, including Bangladesh and Nepal, has left no stone unturned to create political fissures in the border States; thus, creating a rift between various ethnic and racial classes. Not only by our immediate neighbours, but India is also attacked with venomous content by and from unlikely quarters, including the apparently non-interfering Saudi and UAE communities.
The malicious exercise against India has been active since a long time and has enveloped all border-sharing States with its circumference engulfing almost all possible ethnic communities. To get the best desirable impact, these nations exploit the local media to spread hate messages among people and feed them with anti-India sentiments. Initially, the radio was the most potent and sought-after medium of communication; but gradually, television became a more potent medium with fringe channels being used to spread poisonous verbal and visual clips to their target audience. The masterminds are mostly religious extremist groups, Government-sponsored organisations and sometimes, sovereign Governments themselves.
It’s a spree that has been pervading for a long time but the Government of India seems to be miserably insulated from the reality. Either it is ignorant or is egregiously handicapped by the lack of resources to combat it; or it may even be true that our Government is not bothered by the issue as it affects only a fraction of our population and doesn’t change the overall political dynamics. Despite the warning by our Intelligence Bureau that it has identified as many as 24 television channels spreading hate messages and spurious information against India, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has been largely unmoved.
Unsurprisingly, 14 out of the 24 reported channels are from Pakistan, two are Nepalese TV channels and one each is from Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and even the UK. Some of these tainted channels that are widely viewed in these regions include QTV, ARY TV, PTV (Pakistan’s official broadcaster), Dawn and other Pakistan-based stations. The tastefully named Peace TV of UAE, Saudi TV, NTV of Bangladesh and even Nepal TV and Bhutan Broadcasting Service are trampling us underfoot. It was only when the news leaked into our domestic media that the Union Home Ministry was forced to act. Thanks to these 24-odd channels, incidents of violence and ethnic rift increased in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra.
For instance, last year, a Pakistani TV channel aired anti-India programmes in Jammu in Gojri language — a widely spoken language in the State — after installing powerful transmitters along the adjoining border to serve their purpose. Most of these channels were and are aired by unregulated cable operators and service providers. Yes, attempts to curtail their presence were made by the UPA Government. However, for political reasons, it has been difficult to attain a consensus on the issue and our Government is treading silently, especially in the backdrop of a very uncertain election year. Some channels were blocked too, but that was more of a forced decision, in the aftermath of the communal brickbats across the nation.
However, no concrete attempts are being made to ban radio stations that air hate messages in India. The States where these channels spread their perfidious messages are relatively poor, where citizens rely more on radio than on television for infotainment, thus, making the reach of such programmes more impactful and disastrous. Taking advantage of the lack of strong terrestrial coverage and transmissions on the India-China border, China has installed strong and high powered transmitters to broadcast their TV and radio programmes along the bordering States. Strangely, even the All India Radio network is weak in these areas compared to the radio networks of Bangladesh and Nepal. So much so, Bangladeshi radio frequencies can easily be tuned into in almost all North-Eastern States and even in West Bengal. Similarly, Pakistani TV and radio signals can readily be accessed in Jammu & Kashmir and nearby regions.
In effect, radio propaganda has pervaded poor districts near the Indian borders, where TV penetration is low, to treacherously influence poor and vulnerable people. Pakistan is particularly is adroit in exploiting the vehicle of radio to shore up religious passions and to incite reactionary communal outbursts. It does this not only to India but to its other neighbours too, like Afghanistan. It’s common knowledge how the Taliban have been using the radio as a major tool to sway the perceptions of common Afghans and tribal folk populating the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to further their cause and philosophy. As this shows, sometimes, these propaganda wars work to deadly effect.
Examples are strewn across the world. Kenya had been a victim to such hate, spread during the conflict between the Kelenjin and Kikuyu tribe. It started as an innocuous cattle war but turned into something so vicious that the entire country plunged into chaos. The Kikuyu tribe wreak havoc with their propaganda of animosity. Then, during the Bosnia bombings of 1997, Serbians resorted to the radio to broadcast messages against Muslims, Americans and against the Dayton peace deal. The Americans had then retaliated by seizing various transmitters, and thus, halting the hate broadcasts.
What the Americans could do in an alien land thousands of miles away, Indian authorities haven’t been able to do on their home turf. There is no specialised cell, no expertise, no fund disbursements worth mentioning, and most importantly, no initiatives from our authorities as they are sweeping the matter below the carpet in their typical ‘chalta-hai’ style. The downright refusal to acknowledge the gravity of the situation has given rise to a ticking time bomb, especially in the backdrop of ongoing discontentment in the bordering States. In multi-religious and multi-cultural societies as ours, it is even easier to break the back of the very delicately poised domestic harmony — a fact that never seems to get the interest of our authorities and least of all our Ministers. Our neighbours are not only invading our sovereignty but have been virtually waging a psychological war from across the border. And we seem to be nothing but sitting ducks.
(The author is a management guru and honorary director of IIPM Think Tank)