Three Islamic terrorists, including the mastermind of the brutal Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 innocent Hindu pilgrims, were neutralised by the Indian Army in Kashmir under Operation Mahadev. And Reuters Asia chooses to mention it just as “Indian army says three men killed after firefight in Indian Kashmir.” No mention of terrorism and no context of the Pahalgam massacre. This is some world class Pulitzer Prize winning journalism.
This isn’t an isolated case, this is just one incident from the series of coordinated narratives that play out almost every day. Kashmir’s issue is increasingly used by foreign media to delegitimize India’s sovereignty. They consistently take a position that aligns Western propaganda, aimed at defaming India on the global stage. If we are to look at the overall coverage by Western media since Pahalgam to Operation Sindoor, there is a pattern. A pattern which is poised to tarnish India’s global image. First, they tried to deny Pakistan’s role in the attack. Then, they attempted to portray India as weak by spreading fake propaganda by claiming that India lost five jets or that Pakistan demonstrated military superiority using Chinese weapons. Fortunately, all of them failed miserably.
Major Western outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Deutsche Welle, and Euro news repeatedly labeled the attackers as “gunmen” or “militants”, didn’t call them terrorists, and on purpose omitted the religious targeting explicitly faced by Hindu tourists. From, New York Post to the Washington Post, each and every channel is actively involved in spreading Anti-India sentiments around the globe.
India recently overtook Japan to become the world’s 4th largest economy and is on track to become the 3rd largest in the coming years and this is a shift that challenges Western interests, and that’s exactly when their propaganda machinery kicks into gear.
It does not require rocket science to understand that these are deliberate efforts to shape global perception by distorting facts, downplaying terrorism, and constantly questioning India’s intent while giving safe cover to those who sponsor violence and terrorism. When terrorists are referred to as ‘men,’ and the victims of a brutal massacre are reduced to a footnote, it becomes a betrayal of basic truth. And when this keeps happening, especially at a time when India is growing stronger on the world stage, it’s hard not to see the design behind it.
Frankly speaking, we do not need validation from these Western propaganda outlets, but we do need to call out those who twist the story every time we stand up for ourselves. Because silence is exactly what they count on and we’re done staying silent.
Author: Shubham Kushwaha is a writer and commentator on socio-political issues. Tweets at Shubham Kushwaha
