Pakistan8217;s Screen Test

CHANDIGARH, June 1: Everyone knew they were going to do it; nobody knew exactly when. The news of Pakistan's nuclear tests was flashed acros...

CHANDIGARH, June 1: Everyone knew they were going to do it; nobody knew exactly when. The news of Pakistan8217;s nuclear tests was flashed across DD as Mrs Sushmternoon; it took at least another hour before the tremors were felt in Parliament: Mr.Somnath Chatterjee was fulminating when Mr.Natwar Singh asked for confirmation of the blasts 5.15pm, DD1. That it took so long for the information to be conveyed to the government is a grave security lapse; that the information was there, on the box, all the while without the Government or Parliament in the know, is absurd, right?

The manner in which PTV prepared the territory, the nation and anybody else watching for the nuclear tests was a superior lesson in media management. And we8217;re not just talking about the routine, mandatory condemnations of India. Although if you had listened to what 8220;the people8221; of Pakistan were saying, after Chagai Hills, you could have been forgiven for believing war, nuclear war, had been declared. Disturbing. Frightening.

Once we8217;d tested, there was a hysterical outburst the other side of the border. Once that had been given sufficient coverage on PTV, it subsided as fast as a nuclear test. Then came the offensive. Calm and calculated but always jingoistic. Every evening PTV had a series of discussions; military men, journalists, scientists, economists and an assortment of officials set the stage for Pakistani blasts by hammering home one point again and again: no feel like, have to. This no choice8217; assault was mounted without too much breast-beating. It was done in a conversational, rational style as though they were seriously discussing, no, not the weather which is too heated a subject these days, but the state of say, Pakistan8217;s hockey team. And they did it in a way which suggested that after careful consideration of the pros and cons, they had reached the conclusion that Pakistan had to go the Indian way whereas, we all know that the minute we imploded, they were going to follow suit.

The Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharief, appeared repeatedly on TV; most significantly in a tete a tete with assorted editors and journalists. He coolly and at great length outlined the consequences of India8217;s tests and in his opinion the international community8217;s puny response; he consulted them, elicited their advice note, advice not simply their opinions. He thanked them for their cooperation. Now, memory is short, but when was the last time an Indian Prime Minister held a televised press conference, a press consultation or thanked the media for anything?

PTV didn8217;t restrict itself to the expert community. It held public forum debates; one, a day before the tests, had college students quizzing panellists on the full implications of The Bomb ours and theirs. As a public relations exercise this was so much more effective than the discussions on TV channels here. Because, the entire effort created a grand illusion: an illusion of public participation in decision-making, of a nation being taken into confidence by the government and a government taking decisions with the public8217;s tacit support, nay, overwhelming encouragement.

The significance of this technique was soon in evidence. BBC analysing the reasons for the Chagai Hills tests on Thursday, said that Nawaz Sharief didn8217;t want to conduct the tests how it was privy to his most intimate thoughts should be a cause of concern to him but had bowed to public pressure. So the Pakistan government was seen to be responding to the will of the people, even in the international media, whether this was entirely true or not.

As soon as the blasts were conducted, Nawaz Sharief took to television once again to explain his government8217;s decision. Forget the details. What is relevant is that the speech was carried live by BBC, CNBC, CNN and extracts appeared STAR News Channel. By this broadcast, Sharief gained two complementary advantages: one, he cornered international media space and attention; two, he was able to directly and immediately convey the impression that India had forced his hand, thereby cleverly deflecting much of the responsibility for his actions onto Vajpayee8217;s government. This, as mentioned already, has had the desired effect of making people the world over believe that India was the aggressor and Pakistan the defender.

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Since then, Pakistan8217;s best and brightest officials in their thinnest pin striped suits, gravest countenances and mildest manners have been appearing before the world, explaining their point of view.

Contrast this with the surcharged performances of Pramod Mahajan, George Fernandes and L.K.Advani. Contrast it with Vajpayee8217;s announcement of Pokharan II, also at a news conference which was short 8212; in length and on information. Shouldn8217;t the Prime Minister have spoken to the nation after our tests and explained their necessity? If he could speak to Newsweek and Der Speigel dare say, you don8217;t know how to even pronounce it, couldn8217;t he have spoken to Indian journalists on TV so that the country could have heard first hand why it had suddenly, one afternoon, gone nuclear?