By Uzma Ehtasham
There is a fundamental misconception that must be addressed: if you are powerful and you bully someone weaker than you, it is not courage. In fact, striking someone smaller than you is not a display of bravery; it is, at best, an act of cruelty, and at worst, a display of cowardice disguised as strength. True courage comes when the weak stand their ground or strike back, often resulting in the disgrace of the bully. This very dynamic unfolded in the recent tensions between Pakistan and India. The contrast between the two nations on the battlefield has often been portrayed as an uneven contest—India, a regional giant, and Pakistan, a smaller power struggling to assert itself. Yet, in the recent escalation, Pakistan’s response to India’s provocations revealed a surprising twist, turning the tables in a way that was hard to ignore.
When India made provocative moves by discussing mortar strikes, Pakistan did not back down. Instead, the country responded strategically and decisively, making it clear that the Line of Control—long seen as an inviolable boundary—was no longer beyond reach. What ensued was not only a display of military might but also a potent message to India’s leadership and media: a nation built on deceit cannot continue to ignore the truth. The forcefulness of Pakistan’s military response was both calculated and overwhelming, as it showcased the might of its armed forces in a way that left no room for doubt or misinterpretation.
On May 10, the world watched as Pakistan’s ballistic missiles struck targets in India. The Pakistani Air Force displayed impressive precision, ensuring that their message was impossible to overlook. However, the Indian media’s portrayal of events starkly contrasted the reality on the ground. Indian news outlets ran sensational stories claiming that Pakistani forces had destroyed a key airbase during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. Yet, upon closer inspection, the airbase remained intact, leaving the question open: Was this a deliberate attempt to deceive the public, or were they simply under the illusion that Pakistan’s military was incapable?
Pakistan’s response to the Indian strikes was not merely a matter of retaliation. The Pakistani military chose its targets with care. While India had previously attacked a Pakistani airbase and hit the runway, Pakistan chose a different path. Rather than targeting the runway, which would have been a direct challenge to India’s military infrastructure, Pakistan’s strike focused on crucial military assets, ensuring that Modi’s visit would remain unaffected. This strategic avoidance highlighted not only Pakistan’s precision in its military operations but also its understanding of the global stage and the importance of sending a message, rather than merely engaging in a tit-for-tat exchange of blows.
Prime Minister Modi, who has long painted Pakistan as the sole aggressor in ceasefire violations, was now faced with an inconvenient truth. His carefully constructed narrative, which placed the blame on Pakistan, was shattered by the real-time events unfolding on the ground. Indian analysts, for the first time, were forced to confront this new reality. Senior analyst Manoj Jain, appearing on Indian television, made a blunt observation: the true victor in this conflict was Pakistan, not India. Jain further noted that Modi had been forced to seek a backdoor resolution from President Donald Trump, something that exposed the Indian Prime Minister’s vulnerability on the global stage.
The implications of this diplomatic backpedaling were not lost on the public. Modi, who had once appeared confident in his military prowess, had to grovel before Trump, seeking a way out of the escalating situation. His actions, analysts argued, represented a loss of dignity on the international front. Jain’s assessment pointed to a deeper issue: Modi’s attempts to control the narrative around India’s military failures, particularly the highly publicized debacle of the Rafale deal, were now threatened by this embarrassing turn of events.
Meanwhile, former Indian Minister Arun Shourie was quick to condemn the Indian media’s portrayal of the conflict. Describing the media as not just “lapdog media” but “Modi’s media,” Shourie slammed the exaggerated and false reports that painted a picture of Indian military dominance. Claims that India had taken control of Islamabad and Lahore or destroyed the Karachi port were nothing more than fabrications, he argued. These falsehoods, he warned, were not only damaging to India’s credibility but also undermined the country’s reputation in the global arena.
In an era where information flows freely and rapidly, the truth has a unique way of piercing through even the most meticulously crafted lies. The ongoing Pakistan-India conflict has shown us that, despite attempts to manipulate narratives, the real story can only be obscured for so long. In this instance, Pakistan’s military response and the subsequent unraveling of India’s fabricated media claims exposed the cracks in the narrative that India had so carefully built. The lesson is clear: in the end, truth always prevails, no matter how much effort is invested in its suppression.
(The writer is a public health professional, journalist, and possesses expertise in health communication, having keen interest in national and international affairs, can be reached at uzma@metro-morning.com)
