Monitoring Desk: The English daily Express Tribune has exposed the Indian propaganda machine ruthlessly while mentioning facts that more than 40 news items have been produced by mainstream Indian media outlets during this those are totally Fake News.
Author of article Hammad Sarfraz writes that despite being exposed for funding a long-running disinformation campaign against Pakistan last year, India continues to use its rumor mills to alter global opinion about its arch-rival in the region.
The Article says:
While the spread of unverified information about Islamabad is a permanent feature in New Delhi’s playbook, it churns out more misinformation around key global events. The current surge in misleading news items has been timed around the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul and the subsequent withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Since last year’s expose by the BBC, India has developed a reputation for spreading misinformation. In its damning news piece, the London-based broadcaster uncovered a 15-year long operation targeting key western organizations to serve Indian interests. Managed by an Indian entity, the largest network of disinformation, was being used to hammer Pakistan’s image.
A year later, India’s information warfare against Pakistan continues and this time it has employed its domestic media outlets. Over the past month, India Today, NDTV, Republic TV, and CNN-News 18 have all been spreading the Narendra Modi government’s narrative against Pakistan.
On the long list of faux pas by its media, the claim made by Republic TV remains on top. In its prime time show, hosted by Arnab Goswami, the right-wing channel claimed that Pakistan Army officers were operating from the fifth floor of the Serena Hotel in Kabul — which only has two floors.
Earlier, the same channel aired an exclusive clip showing air force jets attacking Panjshir. The channel went on to claim that the Pakistani air force was helping the Taliban in its attack on the valley.
The claims by Republic TV, which is known as the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) mouthpiece, were instantly debunked by experts. Mohammed Zubair, the founder of Alt News and a fact-checker was the first one to draw attention to the channel’s false claim.
The ‘exclusive video’ of Airstrikes at Panjshir Valley, Zubair said, was from a video game called “Arma-3”. Wilson Centre’s Michael Kugelman pointed out that India had used similar imagery during the Balakot crisis back in 2019.
Despite innumerable instances where India has been caught red-handed spreading misinformation, the West, which is usually very critical of such practices, remains silent.
Information gathered by the Express Tribune shows that the Indian government has also launched specific themed campaigns ahead of all major international events, including the UNGA and even around the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) meetings to review Pakistan’s status.
