Even the coronavirus pandemic cannot deter Indian media from warmongering

In the latest example of India's often vitriol-addled reporting, Times Now has claimed that Pakistan "is going to plot a bio war against India by infiltrating people affected by COVID [sic]".

The news outlet's television "report" is based on an alleged letter sent by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) — one of India's Central Armed Police Forces responsible for India's border with Nepal — to the authorities in West Champaran. It has claimed that the Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey has received the letter in question.

The letter, according to Times Now, claims that a man named Zalim Mian, who is the chairman of the Jagarnathpur municipality in Nepal, "has been entrusted with the job of sending in around 40-50 positive COVID-19 cases into India".

Of these, 8-10 are Pakistani citizens, Times Now has alleged.

It has also alleged that "previous reports" suggest "a large number Pakistanis hiding in Nepal were arrested from mosques and madressahs".

"14 Indian nationals belonging to a particular community were trying to run away from a quarantine centre in Pakistan and trying to enter India but were arrested in Nepal," it further alleged.

India has been criticised by media outlets and organisations worldwide for peddling propaganda and airing fake news to ramp up war hysteria, in what was seen as a calculated manoeuvre by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shore up votes when he was contesting general elections.

At the outset of rising tensions between India and Pakistan in February last year, India claimed striking 300 militants in the Balakot sector.

International observers had later recognised that there was no truth to the claim.

Even post-elections, Indian media has been acrimonious in its reporting, making no secret of its anti-Pakistan rhetoric.

"India’s media compares unfavourably to those of other countries. According to Reporters Without Borders, India ranks 140 out of 180 countries for press freedom, behind violence-ridden Afghanistan and South Sudan," said a report by Foreign Policy magazine.

The latest report by Times Now, at a time in global history when countries must become united in the common goal to fight off the coronavirus pandemic, is unsubstantiated at best and divisive at worst.