Rafale's Sindoor strike thrilled TV war rooms—'Painted Pakistan red', ‘Dharam bata diya'
As channels screened visuals of the attack, anchors welcomed each strike: First missile, second missile, first set of visuals, second set of visuals…. 'Don't go away,' ordered the commander-in-chief of the armed and dangerous TV news brigade, Arnab Goswami. 'Watch… listen…see the great balls of fire…' ( Republic TV ).
The television news anchors were beyond happy: They were ecstatic. As Indian missiles struck nine 'terrorist camps' in Pakistan, they couldn't contain their joy. If they could have, they would have clapped and jumped like little children who've been given their favourite toy.
And indeed, we did see, maybe not 'balls of fire' but certainly small bulbs that lit up the sky and then fell and exploded into flames. Throughout 7 May, news channels studied visuals of the attack sites, dissected them, analysed them and finally came to the conclusion that 'Justice is served' (DD News)—much like the Indian Army's post on X while announcing the strike early in the morning.
In other words, this was 'Bharat ka Badla', which Hindi channels like TV9 Bharatvarsh and several English news channels had demanded over the past fortnight. They had built up expectations so high with their demands to wipe out Pakistan, 'pulverise' Pakistan, 'destroy' Pakistan that when Operation Sindoor took place early 7 May, it seemed mild in comparison to their doomsday scenarios. Remember 'Mitti me mila denge', 'Choor choor kar denge,' 'Ghar mein ghus kar maarenge'?
The channels had played out far grander revenge scenarios in their studios, daily. The channels had heavily armed troops, rumbling tanks, aircraft and helicopters zooming in and out, sirens going off as explosions exploded everywhere—Pakistan was 'choor choor.'
Also read: India's Chief of Information War during Op Sindoor night was fact-checker Mohammed Zubair
Anchors welcome the attack
The anchors were the commanding officers urging India forward into battle. Channels such as Zee, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Times Now Navbharat, and Republic TV even invited Pakistani journalists and 'strategic experts' to their debates so they could riddle them with verbal bullets.
Now the action was for real and they welcomed it with folded hands: 'Jai Hind,' said Aaj Tak. Republic Bharat went one better—'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
Others were equally pleased: 'India strikes Pakistan,' exulted India Today. 'India strikes Pakistan hard,' said Republic TV. 'Our Rafales avenge Pahalgam, bleed terroristan,' wrote Times Now. 'Paints the ground red in Pakistan,' said TV9 Bharatvarsh.
Hindi news channels were more colourful in their exaggerated descriptions: 'Pakistan chaknachoor,' said ABP News. 'Na bhoola, na chhoda. Ghar mein ghuske maara,' it added.
Twenty-four missions in 25 minutes wasn't enough for some anchors—'This is just the Rafale trailer,' said the Zee Bharat anchor. 'Picture abhi baaki hai.'
Or take Major Gaurav Arya (retd), for instance. Once a regular on Republic TV, he has shifted loyalties to Times Now and was as thirsty as Hindi news channels claimed people in Pakistan were after India put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance and stopped the flow of water across the border. He said he wanted Pakistan to 'attack' India so that India could have an excuse to 'hammer Pakistan into submission.'
And then there was this headline-comment from Times Now Navbharat: 'Dharam Bata Diya' (We showed them our religion)—a nod to the question terrorists in Pahalgam had reportedly asked victims before killing them.
Channels 'rained hell' on Pakistan
Several channels claimed that up to '100 terrorists' had been killed in 'Operation Sindoor'. Without names, this wasn't something the channels could latch onto.
But wild elation erupted in studios when news filtered in that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar's family had been all but wiped out in the Indian attack. Anchor Rubika Liyaquat on News 18 India announced, in a loud voice, 'They are all dead!'
'Breaking War' on ABP News devoted ample time to an unsigned message, reportedly from the terrorist, claiming that his close family members had been killed in the attack on Bahawalpur; other channels joined in celebration: 'Masood's terror clan wiped out,' wrote Times Now. 'Masood is crying tears of blood,' declared TV9 Bharatvarsh.
The usually sedate NDTV 24×7 revised its vocabulary to suit the occasion: By Wednesday afternoon, it was speaking of India's 'hellfire on Pakistan'. This is straight out of the Times Now dictionary—'25 minutes 24 missiles rain hell on Pakistan.'
DD News, which normally reports in boringly factual language, has also been taking lessons from private news channels: Pakistan's 'back broken,' it said and the visuals it telecast were filled with computer generated images (CGI) of fighter aircraft, missiles and buildings going up in flames.
No answer to 'what next' but stay vigilant
India had used its Rafale jets for a lightning strike, but there was heavy duty analysis in TV studio 'war rooms' all day. Panel after panel of retired army officers and strategic writers discussed and debated the video proof of the attacks, all Wednesday.
They spoke of 'Operation Sindoor' and then asked, 'What next?' Obviously, nobody knew the answer to that but we were warned to be prepared—what with Pakistan's threats of retaliation and its history of hitting 'soft' civilian targets: 'Take it seriously,' said Lt Gen Devendra Pandey (retd) on Times Now. 'We must be vigilant.'
Besides these, there were interviews with the public, especially in Kashmir. Zee News asked people who lived near the Line of Control: 'Are you happy (with the attacks)?' 'Yes,' came the reply each time.
News channels also spoke to some family members of those killed in the Pahalgam attack – Shubham Dwivedi's wife Aishanya expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the armed forces for Operation Sindoor. When asked about the PM naming the operation, she told Times Now that perhaps the PM had understood the pain she and others felt on losing their loved ones.
That the PM had chosen the name of the operation was treated as 'very sensitive information' by TV9 Bharatvarsh which took the analogy forward: India had painted Pakistan red, it said. Republic Bharat termed the Indian attack as 'Sindoor ka badla' while News 18 India said it was 'Betiyon ke suhaag ka badla'.
Badla. Revenge: that was the message on TV news.
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