It was a Black Sunday on September 18, 2016, when a ghastly terror attack in Uri martyred 18 Indian soldiers and injured dozens. All the four terrorists who happened to be fidayeen—a medieval-styled militant cult prevailing in the Muslim world—have been killed.

While the Indian news channels have seen a surge of patriotism and commentary that verges on war-mongering, across the border, the portrayal of what happened in Uri, in Pakistani media is unsettling. Many in Pakistani media are refusing to use even the most befitting epithet for the Uri attackers: “terrorists”.

A prominent section of the Pakistani media has blamed the Indian establishment for the worst atrocity on the Indian army in a decade. There’s also the narrative that the Uri attack was an “inside job”. According to one section of the Pakistani media, this incident (which happens to be one of the deadliest attacks the Indian Army has ever suffered) is the work of the Indian government which is trying to divert attention from the ‘real problem’— unrest in Kashmir – in this manner.

Pakistan’s largest and leading dailies in Urdu like Jang (جنگ), Express (ایکسپریس ), Khabrain (خبریں), Nawa-e-Waqt (نوائے وقت ), Daily Pak (پاکستان), Daily Ausaf (اوصاف), Jasarat (جسارت)—and a few others — have not only followed this drill but outperformed others in this yellow journalism. All these Urdu newspapers carried “conspiracy stories” on their front pages, theorising that the Uri terror attack was a “false flag operation”.

Looking at Pakistani English media, The Times of India reported, “Editorials in Pakistani media appear to be blaming India for the terror attack in Uri, saying its timing was suspicious because it coincided with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif heading to the UN General Assembly to talk about Kashmir.” The Indian Express also castigated the Pakistan media for calling the Uri attack an “inside job to malign the azaadi movement”.

Following the Uri attack, Dawn carried an exclusive piece titled, “Responding to a dangerous time”, jointly authored by four of its correspondents. Buttressing the same conspiracy theory story and the narrative of victimhood, they concluded that after the attack on the Indian army camp, “India may heat up the LoC to detract attention from its atrocities in the Valley”. It continued, “Pakistan should even be ready for worse. In this trying situation, Pakistan can rely on diplomatic support from China and friends in the Islamic world”.

Advising the Pakistani government on defence preparedness, diplomacy and foreign policy, the Pakistani daily pushed political pundits to strategically deal with “vitiated relations” with Kabul and Washington. It wrote:

“Regardless of the grave policy errors made since its intervention in Afghanistan, much like those made later in Iraq, Washington has chosen to blame Pakistan for its woes in Afghanistan. Both Washington and Kabul believe that sanctuaries in Pakistan sustain the Afghan Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan”.

However, Dawn has also said that the state of Pakistan has been a partner in crime with the Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), even as it accused the Indian Prime Minister of indulging in a “smear campaign”.

“Our well-intentioned commitment to nudge the Taliban towards reconciliation, bring them to the negotiating table and our apparent eagerness to play a role have turned us into a Taliban accomplice. It is time to rethink our Taliban policy … This is our responsibility as a state. We cannot justify differentiated emphasis for Operation Zarb-i-Azb which attracts the accusation that we distinguish between ‘good and bad’ Taliban.”

Turning a blind eye to the proof of Pakistani involvement in the Uri attack, the Pakistani media has showcased instead the Pakistani army’s “readiness to counter threats’”. The largest Urdu daily Jung captioned its front page news yesterday as: “We will hit out at every threat: Commanders”. It eulogised the armed forces of Pakistan, which claim to be “fully prepared” to respond to “the entire spectrum of direct and indirect threats”. It wrote:

“Taking note of a hostile narrative being propagated by India, the COAS (Chief of Army Staff) said that we are fully cognisant and closely watching the latest happenings in the region and their impact on the security of Pakistan.”

Carrying the same news report on its front page, Pakistani Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt expressed satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the army. Quoting General Raheel Sharif as saying that Pakistan’s armed forces are prepared enough to respond to the “direct and indirect threats”, its headline said: “Notice over the propaganda of Bharat — A declaration to sabotage the evil designs”.

Both Jung and Nawa-e-Waqt talk highly of the “Operation Zarb-e-Azb”, which was the Pakistan army’s operation against the Taliban and had called for an end to the ongoing proxy wars, as they are causing greater destabilisation in the region. However, can the operation can be seen as a result of a genuine counter-terror approach when various terrorist outfits like Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba are freely operating across the length and breadth of the Pakistani state. It’s worth keeping in mind that the Indian Army’s initial findings suggest the four terrorists who attacked Uri may be from, which has close linkages to the Pakistani military.

Leaving aside the larger debate about whether a news agency’s first allegiance should be to journalism or to nationalism, the fact is that media in Pakistan appears to have taken a stand with their coverage of Uri that is in support of people like the JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar, who champions violent extremism and is one of the many indoctrinating Muslim youth into radical, Wahabi-influenced Islam.

Such sweeping and unfounded accusations dressed in the form of news are unfortunately being consumed by millions of Pakistani readers. Courtesy the internet, they are accessible to readers in other parts of the world too. Pakistani media works under a variety of constraints and restrictions – assassination attempts upon journalists are shockingly common; pressure comes from the government, its agencies as well as militant outfits. Yet this decision to actively report propaganda and disregard facts by some of Pakistan’s most prominent newspapers offers some indication of just how deeply entrenched the country’s anxieties about India are.