Stop the theatrics, please

OUR POLITICAL LEADERS shamed India last week.

- Tavleen Singh

At the end of an ugly war that we fought and won, they could have shown grace and maturity befitting a democratic country. Instead, they made speeches and statements more befitting politicians in a tawdry autocracy. It was not just our political leaders who let the side down, but the media as well. Nearly all our private news channels turned their studios into war rooms. And celebrated TV anchors passed jingoism off as journalism.

Instead of investigating where the killers of Pahalgam have vanished, they wasted time expressing ill-informed opinions on national security. Some even became instant economists and questioned why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had disbursed the next tranche of its loan to Pakistan. There was so much noise about 'timing' that the IMF had to remind us that these decisions are taken by the board. I have been in journalism for more than 50 years and have often been proud of how the Indian media has graduated seamlessly from press release journalism to holding the powerful to account and becoming a pillar of democracy. But last week, as I switched from one news channel to the next, I felt ashamed and embarrassed.