The Kargil War, as India’s first televised conflict, revolutionised the media’s role and helped to shape public perception and to bolster national support
This article is part of the essay series: Kargil@25: Legacy and Beyond
The Kargil War, which was India’s first televised war, marked a turning point in the history of the media’s involvement in South Asian conflicts. As Namrata Joshi stated in her India Today piece on 26 July 1999:
“War will never be the same for Indians again. Television coverage of the action-packed weeks in Kargil changed the very way we perceive a battle. It started rather tentatively: stock shots of booming Bofors guns, marching soldiers and endless rounds of press briefings. But soon the momentum of the medium took over and there were stories laced with the taste of cordite and the raw smell of adventure. Of TV reporters scampering over the mountain sides communicating their thrill.”
Before 1999, India fought three wars with Pakistan—1948, 1965, and 1971, but the 1999 war is etched in the Indian minds. All thanks to the media. For instance, Lt Captain Vikram Batra after retaking Point 5140-a vital peak in the Drass sector in an interview with an NDTV’s reporter Barkha Dutt is immortalised in the Indian psyche, where he said:
“My company’s success signal was ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’. The guys were so highly charged up that they wanted that more bunkers should have been there and we would have got more chaps.”
The big boom in electronic media in India coincided with the war, resulting in live coverage and in-depth analysis of a war between two nuclear-armed states—India and Pakistan. As media critic Sudheesh Pachauri had commented: “After 28 years we've now had a war which has been ‘by the TV, for the TV generation’”. In 1992, the Indian government undertook various economic reforms, including the liberalisation of the broadcasting industry, opening it up to cable television. This led to the entry of many international players into the Indian market such as CNN, and Star TV Network. Following this, Zee TV was the first privately-owned Indian channel to broadcast over cable. In 1995, Zee News was launched, and in 1998 Star TV launched Star News—both playing significant roles in the coverage of the Kargil War.
The big boom in electronic media in India coincided with the war, resulting in live coverage and in-depth analysis of a war between two nuclear-armed states—India and Pakistan.
In 1999, it was the first time, which saw a large number of journalists deployed to the front lines, where they interacted with the Army while the conflict was being fought in front of their cameras. In stating his experience on reporting from Kargil, journalist Vikram Chandra notes:
“During the Kargil war, I flew in an army helicopter over Tiger Hill, Jubar and Batalik while the battle raged below. I fed the footage via satellite, and then, the next day did live phone reports from the ground in Mushkoh Valley.”
Thus, making it the first ‘live war’ for India as well as South Asia with detailed media coverage. On one end, the Indian government allowed newspapers and TV channels to report ‘live’ from Kargil, as senior journalist VC Natrajan notes:
“[T]he press had access to forward areas when the war broke out. Neither the top brass of the armed forces nor the bureaucracy made any effort to hinder the media from reporting what was happening on the battlefront.”
The Indian government, on the other end, imposed a temporary press embargo on Pakistan, prohibiting access to online editions of the Dawn newspaper as well as the broadcast of the state-run Pakistani Channel PTV—which the Pakistani media criticised. The Indian media asserted it to be in the interest of India’s national security. In assessing India’s utilisation of the media, a RAND publication argued that “During Kargil, New Delhi demonstrated its agility in handling a variety of media (e.g., television, print, radio, internet) to disseminate and control the Indian message, shaping in the process both the international and the domestic perception of events.”
The Indian government, on the other end, imposed a temporary press embargo on Pakistan, prohibiting access to online editions of the Dawn newspaper as well as the broadcast of the state-run Pakistani Channel PTV—which the Pakistani media criticised.
In a democracy, ‘media’ is considered the fourth estate—supplementing the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Media, which ‘educates, informs, and entertains’, plays a key role in shaping the public agenda and forming public opinion. So what role did the media play during the Kargil War?
Primarily, the media informed the public by bringing the war into Indian homes, as evident from the Television Audience Measurement (TAM) ratings for all TV households in nine cities—Delhi, Kanpur, Calcutta, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Cochin: Aaj Tak’s viewership grew from 1,619,659 for the week ending 5 June to 1,952,000 for the week ending 26 June; while for the same period, Star News (English) showed an upward swing from 108,000 viewers to 139,000 viewers and Star News (Hindi) went up from 115,742 to 122,000.
The media coverage during the war had a huge impact on the sentiments of the Indian citizens—building an emotional connection with the soldiers. By raising national awareness about the conflict, the challenges faced by soldiers, and the sacrifices made, the media was able to fuel nationalistic sentiment and bolster public support for the Indian troops. The live reporting from the battlefront significantly changed the way the public viewed and perceived a war, galvanising strong domestic support for India’s actions towards Pakistan. This helped shape a new precedent in media-military relations. It just did not bring in solidarity, as journalist Rajat Sharma contends, “It created an awareness and led to so many people coming out to help the forces”.
The media, therefore, played a pivotal role in shaping and influencing not just national but also international opinion by running stories in foreign publications including The Times, The Washington Post and others. In addition, the Indian media agencies also cultivated domestic support with continuous news of activities on the front lines and instant communication via the internet through several websites, such as www.indiainfo.com, www.kargilonline.com, and www.vijayinkargil.org.
“The media is or can be a valuable force multiplier. Even in circumstances of proxy war, the battle for hearts and minds is of paramount importance. It is little use winning the battle of bullets only to lose the war because of popular alienation.”
Overall, the media acted as a potent force multiplier in the Kargil War, as India through the media was able to communicate its position and official version of events not just to the domestic populace but also to the international community by providing diplomatic leverage. The media's coverage of the war helped to garner international support for India’s position as by highlighting Pakistan's involvement and the aggression displayed by its forces, it influenced global opinion. The very essence of it is mentioned in the Kargil Review Committee Report, which posits:
“The media is or can be a valuable force multiplier. Even in circumstances of proxy war, the battle for hearts and minds is of paramount importance. It is little use winning the battle of bullets only to lose the war because of popular alienation.”
That the media did play a pivotal role in India’s victory against Pakistan is also validated by the Pakistan Army’s Green Book’s analysis of the defeat in the Kargil War, as it categorically mentions:
“Our adversary [India] has taken great bounds in acquiring media power and has been putting it to good use for her benefits. With a number of TV channels and remarkable advancement in information technology, India has attained a total electronic media supremacy over Pakistan. […]
Pakistani Media failed to counter media invasion launched by India in Kargil [...] It lacked offensive posture and well-coordinated and planned themes to raise the morale of the troops or to shield them against Indian propaganda.”
However, the media also faced criticism for its coverage as issues such as the accuracy of information, the potential for sensationalism, and the impact on the troops’ morale were raised. One such criticism is against Barkha Dutta’s live commentary during the secret ‘Tiger Hill’ operation- seen as irresponsible. But on the whole, the Kargil War demonstrated the immense power of the media in shaping public opinion and influencing the course of a conflict. The media was able to ignite a patriotic fervour that united the country in a time of crisis. Certainly, it marked a turning point in the relationship between the media and the military, leading to a more collaborative approach in subsequent years.
Amrita Jash is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Institution of Eminence), Manipal, India.
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Dr. Amrita Jash is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Institution of Eminence), India. She ...
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