In this episode, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath discuss India’s response to the Pahalgam attack and what India’s rank in the World Press Freedom Index reflects. Also part of the discussion are international relations expert Professor Amitabh Mattoo and senior journalist Nirupama Subramaniam.
On India’s response to the Pahalgam attack, Amitabh says, “At the moment, it’s very calibrated, almost muted. There has been a slate of measures announced, including keeping the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, which is probably the most significant. The others are more symbolic, like reducing the number of staff within the High Commission, or closing the Attari-Wagah border.”
He adds, “These are more symbolic measures designed to activate the immediate sense of anger. Given that the credibility of the establishment is at stake, I would certainly say that the odds are hugely in favour of military action.”
Nirupama points to a deeper policy failure in Kashmir: “It is a failure to understand that your adversary has changed beyond imagination. That is where there is an intelligence failure and a policy failure. You did not anticipate that your enemy could come and do this to you in Kashmir. I think that we are not talking about enough.”
On the targeting of Kashmiris across India, Dhanya says, “Immediately after the Pahalgam attacks, we are seeing a series of attacks on Kashmiris across India, especially students. That’s outrageous.”
Amitabh concurs, “The worst thing you can do, in terms of winning the hearts and minds of the Kashmiris, is to attack Kashmiri students. That is unpardonable.”
As the conversation shifts to India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index, Dhanya says, “RSF has consistently highlighted the problem of media ownership in India. Mukesh Ambani is believed to own around 70 media outlets. That kind of ownership concentration leads to self-censorship.”
Leena warns, “Journalists are assuming they think they’re free while they’re self-censoring. And that to me, is a far more worrying trend.”
Nirupama reflects on the growing demand for ‘positive’ journalism over accountability: “I think there is very little understanding that journalists have to question the government, that they exist not to do positive stories about good governance and how great the country is doing and all that, but to find out, to hold them accountable, to talk truth to power.”
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Audio Timecodes
00:00:00- Introduction
00:01:57- Support TNM
00:05:30 -Headlines
00:10:23 -Pahalgam Attack
00:57:47- Press Freedom Index
01:19:55 - Recommendations
References
BBC’s response to Indian govt’s objection of Pahalgam coverage | Powertrip #100
Union govt says Baisaran valley wasn’t supposed to open, evidence shows otherwise
Key accused in Tamil Nadu transport job scam dead, no probe for months
India ranks 151 in World Press Freedom Index, report raises alarm over media monopoly
Sri Lanka : Voices From A War Zone
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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali.
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