Dr Rajesh Bhat
It was an early and breezy morning of September 7, 1965 when Pakistani troops had entered Jammu city!
Sounds unbelievable, especially to those who are witness tothe Indo-Pak war of 1965 and also to all patriots conscious of the heroic deeds,might and capabilities of brave Indian Jawans that such a thing must never happen even in future.
But that is what thePakistani media had claimed and disseminated amongstits anxious citizens and also to their troops in a vain bid to lift their sagging morale.Not only that…. the enemy media had those days even spread rumours of having “bombarded” South Delhi and having captured some villages of Kashmir and Punjab, bordering Pakistan. Through these misdeeds, they could only make a laughing stock of themselves.
The monitoring of Radio Pakistan during 1965 war had interesting things to reveal! Its morning news on September 6, 1965 was based on the opening lines like: “ our fighters today shot down two enemy super-connies near Agra…..” Another false news was broadcast next day which began like this: “ our forces have entered Jammu and are about to move in Gumat area”… The evening bulletin on the same day had claimed that “ Pakistani troops were about to capture some prominent cities of Punjab…..”.
Although such stuff from across the border was aimed at creating chaos and confusion among the masses, All India Radio was, however, there to counter Radio Pakistan, which had earned the name of “Radio Jhootistan” for its notoriety.
Former Union Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Cabinet, C R Pattabhiraman in his transcribed radio talk, broadcast over All India Radio, Delhi in October 1965 recalls how Radio Pakistan had shamelessly claimed that her “ planes had reduced South Delhi to ashes and damaged Jamana Bridge”. The former Minister also makes a mention of Radio Pakistan’s rabid propaganda when it had spread rumoursthat “ cars in Delhi were stranded for want of petrol”.
Radio Pakistan’s anti-India stance was a part of “Operation Gibraltar”. (1965 war was code-named by the enemy). Under this plan, some Pakistani soldiers, who had initially been infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir for kicking up violence and subversion, were guided by Radio Pakistan’s coded messages. Four infiltrators who were captured by the Indian security forces in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir had later described the whole plan of “Operation Gibraltar” in a broadcast on All India Radio on August 8, 1965. This has a mention in a foreword written for Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s book “The First Round, Indo-Pakistan War 1965” by Altaf Gauhar, the then Pakistan’s Secretary of Information and Broadcasting.
The captured infiltrators had revealed the enemy plan of initiating terror and arson in Jammu and Kashmir and to destroy bridges, communications and government property. After a few days of large scale damage, a plan was to announce over an underground radio Station
“Sada-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir” (Voice of Kashmir) that the people of Kashmir had raised in revolt. In due course, after describing the “success of the people’s uprising”, this radio station (operated from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) would “announce the formation of a National Government in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Such kind of anti-India propaganda was in fact not something new from Radio Pakistan. Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Mir Qasim in his autobiography (My Life and Times, New Delhi: Allied Publications) also makes a mention of strong and malicious anti-India propaganda over Radio Pakistan.
It was not only Radio Pakistan involved in anti-India propaganda but a section of Pakistani print media was equally the culprit in fanning the disinformation campaign. `The Pakistan Times’ in one of its issues of September 1965 had headlined a news item: “ Jammu city was cut off from rest of State. Mujahideen on town’s outskirts”. The same paper had also published a main lead under the heading “Pitches battles in Srinagar. Indian battalion near Baramulla wiped out”. There wasnot an iota of truth in these blatant lies.
As a sentinel guarding the Indian interests, All India Radio had to introduce a series of counter-propaganda programmes to instill confidence amongst people by unmasking “Radio Jhootistan”. AIR Stations of Delhi, Jallandhar, Jammu and Srinagar were among the front runners to fight the 1965 propaganda war and at the same time raising the morale of the security forces by playing the patriotic numbers.
The story of Indo-Pak war of 1965 is now 50 years old but the Nation continues to suffer till date at the hands of Pakistan’s proxy war. And their media propaganda is part of this proxy war, which is showing signs of escalation every moment.
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