ISLAMABAD: The prestigious Green Book of the Pakistan Army that provides rare insights into its ongoing internal debates has recommended that the army must acquire a television channel for dissemination of propaganda to counter the growing penetration of Indian television channels into Pakistani society.
The unusual recommendation has been made in one of the strategy papers written for the Green Book by a serving major general of the Pakistan Army. The strategy papers written by uniformed professionals are part of a special chapter in the ‘Green Book’ titled ‘Sub-conventional Warfare’. The Green Book is published every two years by the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistan Army as an internal publication which, as a matter of principle, is kept confidential from the general public.
In his foreword to the 258-page Green Book , former Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani had described it as a platform where the intellectual context of national security is crystallised. One of the strategy papers advises the Pakistani media to adopt some amusing strategies like repeating lies, running one-sided stories or publishing biased photographs to counter the Indian media during future wars [to be fought] between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.
While slamming the Pakistani media [in his strategy paper] for not countering the penetration of Indian TV and newspapers effectively, Major General Muhammad Azam Asif, who commands an infantry division of the army, has recommended that the Pakistan Army must acquire a television channel as well as a radio station to counter the Indian propaganda. Azam Asif has claimed that the Pakistani media lacks credibility among the masses due to which the general public is compelled to tune in to All India Radio, the BBC and Indian satellite channels during a period of crisis or whenever an important event takes place. Citing the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, he has stated that the primary aim of the Indian media was to defeat the enemy psychologically and disarm them morally.
The strategy paper penned for the Green Book by Major General Azam Asif has stated: “Our adversary (India) has taken big strides in acquiring media power and has been putting it to good use for her benefits. With a number of television channels and remarkable advancement in the information technology, India has attained a total electronic media supremacy over Pakistan”. Therefore, he has called for a brainstorming session between the Pakistani media and the Pakistan Army, saying if the nation is not motivated enough to withstand the aggression, it cannot aspire to preserve freedom. “In future wars, psychological operation will not be the only function which our media would be called upon to perform in the context of national security, but it would act as a bridge between the armed forces and the people.”
Many of the serving senior officers of the Pakistan Army have expressed concerns in their strategy papers [penned for the Green Book] that the Indian television and print publications [whether they are news or entertainment] are available widely across Pakistan through both legitimate means and piracy. And there is a feeling in the khaki circles that the growing penetration of the Indian television channels has demoralised the Pakistani nation to the extent that they see India as a formidable foe which cannot be defeated in war. The Green Book has even claimed that the Kargil war of 1998 was lost by Pakistan because of the relentless media barrage praising the bravery of the Indian troops, thus destroying the fighting spirit of the Pakistan Army.
While analysing Pakistan’s military defeat in the Kargil war, the Green Book has accused the Pakistani media of giving up without putting up a fight against the enemy (Indian) media invasion. On the other hand, it added, the Indian media literally created war hysteria using Indian cricketers, film actors and popular personalities to boost the morale of their troops. “Pakistan decided to withdraw from the Kargil heights due to the low morale of the troops in the face of heavy casualties and mounting international pressure. The Pakistani media simply failed to counter the Indian media invasion during the Kargil crisis. It lacked offensive posture and well-coordinated and planned themes to raise the morale of Pakistani troops and to shield them against the Indian propaganda”, the Green Book added.
In his strategy paper for the Green Book, Brigadier Umar Farooq Durrani has asserted that the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) funds many Indian newspapers and even television channels, such as Zee Television, which is considered to be its media headquarters to wage psychological war. The creation of the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) a few years ago [in Pakistan],” Brigadier Durrani has alleged, was a step in the same direction. “The most subtle form of this psychological war is found in the Indian movies where Muslim and Hindu friendship is screened against the backdrop of melodrama.
“Indian soaps and movies are readily welcomed in most households in Pakistan. The desired result to be achieved is to undermine the Two Nation Theory”, the Brigadier has further written.
However, when comments were sought on the proposal [contained in the Green Book] that the Pakistani Army must acquire a television channel to counter the growing penetration of Indian television channels, an army official said while requesting anonymity that the Green Book does not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the institution of the army. When reminded that the Green Book is considered the strategic manual of the Pakistani armed forces, the khaki official said that the articles written for a special chapter titled ‘Sub-conventional Warfare’ actually represent personal views of army officers.
It was in January 2013 that the media had reported that the Pakistani military has introduced a paradigm shift in its doctrinal manual to include a chapter identifying internal insurgent forces as the primary national security threat while recognising homegrown jehadis as the biggest threat to the national security — bigger than India.
