We need to build our own narrative, an Indian narrative, not only on this war but on all major global events and issues
Truth is the first casualty of war. And the Russia-Ukraine conflict is no exception. Along with the military battle between Russia and Ukraine on the ground, a propaganda war is also on. The adversaries in this propaganda war are western media outlets and the Russian media. Social media is also a big part of this propaganda war. So before one forms any opinion about who is wrong and who is right, one must understand that it might not be as ‘black and white’ as it is made to appear by both sides through an intense information warfare.
In this battle of narratives, on one side there is collective might of the Western media outlets such as BBC, CNN, MSNBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Politico, The New York Times, Financial Times etc. There are many more in addition to these prominent names that influence public opinion globally. The Western block’s most effective propaganda tools comprise mainly news agencies whose feed from the war zone is used by media outlets in rest of the world especially India. Now-a-days this feed quickly reaches social media also. Some of the prominent names amongst these news agencies owned and operated by the Western players are Reuters, AP, AFP, DPA, Bloomberg, etc. Russia on the other hand is using slick TV Channel ‘Russia Today (RT)’ and state-owned news agency ‘Sputnik’ to peddle its narrative.
Western Media and anti-Russia narrative
Much before this war had begun, the Western media, powered especially by those journalists who have spent some time in Moscow on their official assignments, had started painting a grim picture of Russia and especially its President Vladimir Putin. A look at two recently published titles by award-winning journalists from the West indicate how the information war is being fought. The titles touted as bestsellers by many leading commentators and publications are From Russia with Blood: Putin’s ruthless killing campaign and secret war on the west by Heidi Blake and Putin’s People: How the KGB took back Russia and then took on the west by Catherine Belton. There are dozens of such books written, published and lauded by the Western journalists and intellectuals establishing them as standard reference points regarding Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Most of the prominent think tanks in Europe and US help in promoting this anti-Russian narrative.
Vikram Sood, former Chief of India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing has identified three major institutions — Council for Foreign Relations (CFR), Trilateral Commission (TC) and the Bilderberg group as far as building or influencing global narratives on various issues is concerned. “Both the CFR and TC operated from the US, while Europe has been controlled by Bilderberg group…All three overlap in their membership and the American members of both the CFR and TC are often members of the government, holding senior political, administrative and military positions.” (The Ultimate Goal by Vikram Sood; 2020, Harper Collins; Pp35)
Thus, with a strong and powerful ecosystem comprising media outlets, journalists and think tanks, the US, Europe and the NATO have created a particular narrative in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Some of the key elements of this narrative are:
. -Russia is an aggressor and imperialist, while Ukraine is a victim.
. -Russian President Vladimir Putin is a monster, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a hero.
. -Ukraine is a united country and every Ukrainian is fighting against Russia. While many Russians are opposing Putin for this war.
. Russia’s pace of offensive has slowed down and it is floundering. Its economy is collapsing due to sanctions by the West.
This narrative hasn’t been built overnight. The attempts had started much earlier. As Sood explained in The Ultimate Goal (Pp206), “There is a narrative being built in the US about a virtual siege against it by the Russians. There are books, articles and discussions about how they are going about this. One common theme is that America is back to the days of cold war.”
Russia’s counternarrative
Russia was also aware about this information warfare launched by the West against it. “Russian seriousness is also judged by the fact that the Kremlin, with its $300 million budget, runs the very professional and sleek RT TV channel, which is far removed from the Soviet days of dull and boring programmes. Sputnik is a global propaganda effort with a website and radio stations that broadcast in thirty languages from different hubs in Europe including London and Paris, Latin America, Kabul and New Delhi.” (The Ultimate Goal; Pp206)
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Russia has been able to build a counter-narrative to some extent that NATO was encircling Russia through continuous expansion. And Russia was left with no other choice but to invade Ukraine to protect its own national security.
In the initial days of this war, Russia was also able to build a global narrative of the supremacy of Russian military prowess. More importantly, it was able to convey through information warfare that Russia is no more weak and it is back to claim its place of a superpower in the global order which it had lost after the disintegration of Soviet Union in 1989.
But as the war has progressed, the Western media outlets have been able to build a counter-narrative that Russian military is confused and not able to achieve its goals.
Social Media
As this war goes on, we have seen a massive propaganda battle on social media also. Many West-based social media platforms have restricted access of the Russian establishment. Thus, Russia is struggling to counter the western narrative. As soon as the Western media outlets put out a story targeting Russia, the feed goes viral on the social media. Russia is finding it difficult to match this information offensive. Many users of social media, especially in India, are also getting swayed by these feeds, most of which are carefully crafted and being distributed in a very well-planned manner.
The Western world, it appears, is trying to use this information warfare to build an anti-Russia opinion in India so that the government should come under pressure to support Ukraine and oppose Russia. On the other hand, Russian narrative that it has always stood by India while Ukraine opposed it on crucial issues in the international forums like United Nations is also being peddled. The Indian government has, fortunately, not got swayed by the propaganda wars and currently seems to be focusing on getting Indians stuck in war zones back to safety with the help of both Ukraine and Russia.
But the common people are getting influenced by the propaganda from both sides. Hence, we see such a sharp division of opinion in Indian public discourse when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war.
It must be emphasized here that most of the news, opinions and vox pop that are being shared by the Indian media from the war zone are provided by the Western news agencies. The coverage is not without bias as mentioned above. And unknowingly millions of Indian readers and viewers are getting influenced by this loaded coverage.
Indian narrative
What we require is to not get influenced by narratives set up by either of the sides. We need to build our own narrative, an Indian narrative, not only on this war but on all major global events and issues.
Sood aptly sums it up (The Ultimate Goal; Pp280), “The Indian narrative has been run far too long from elsewhere. It needs to change and cannot be determined in Europe, America or elsewhere. India and Indians must tell their own story. We need to manage our narrative to control our destiny.”
The writer, an author and columnist, has written several books. Views expressed are personal.
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