It feels like I’ve been watching the same old movie for years. You know the one – where your neighbour, instead of just peering over the fence, is actively trying to light a fire in your backyard, all the while hoping no one will notice who struck the match. This recent tsunami of misinformation about the protests in Azad Kashmir is just the latest scene in that tired film. While New Delhi was busy broadcasting a narrative of chaos on our streets to the world, the reality here was a much quieter, more considered story. It wasn’t our nation in turmoil; it was their fabricated narrative that was crumbling, exposing the hollowness of their strategy against us.
Their playbook is as predictable as it is malicious. They take a genuine, local issue – in this case, protests over the rising cost of electricity and flour – and twist it through their state-sponsored disinformation machine. Networks connected to India’s intelligence agency, RAW, were reportedly activated, flooding social media with a torrent of lies. Old videos, manipulated images, and clips from entirely different situations were repackaged and peddled as “proof” of an armed uprising. The goal was transparent: to engineer a false equivalence, a “both-sides” narrative to distract the world from the brutal oppression and systematic demographic changes happening in Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
This isn’t a new strategy for them. We saw the same tactics deployed, and fail, in Balochistan, where RAW has been repeatedly accused of funding and arming separatist groups to sow instability. By propping up proxies and weaponizing information, India attempts to create internal divisions, undermine public trust, and paint a picture of Pakistan as a perpetually unstable nation. This proxy war is a desperate attempt to achieve through covert means what they know they cannot accomplish through conventional ones.
But this time, their campaign around AJK backfired spectacularly. Instead of escalating, the protests were resolved through dialogue. The Pakistani government listened to the protestors, acknowledged their grievances, and promptly announced a significant subsidy package that addressed their core demands. The streets of AJK are calm again, not because of force, but because of a functioning political process. This peaceful resolution is a world away from what happens across the Line of Control, where any form of dissent is met with pellet guns, communication shutdowns, and thousands of political prisoners.
And while they’re busy pointing fingers at us, they should really take a look at their own backyard. The youth of Ladakh are showing them the way forward, rejecting the BJP’s divisive tactics and politics of polarization. The people of Ladakh are protesting, demanding their rights under the Sixth Schedule and statehood, and what does India do? They arrest Sonam Wangchuk, a man once hailed as a “nation builder,” now branded “anti-national.” His crime? Standing with his people. Young, unarmed protestors have tragically been met with violence, with reports of lives lost. This is the India that wants to lecture us on democracy and human rights.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking. India should stop poking its nose into the affairs of other countries, especially Pakistan, when its own nation is simmering with discontent. Several states are witnessing movements calling for greater freedom. The people of AJK had 50 demands, and 48 of them were met. The remaining two will be addressed soon. What will India do then? What will happen to the countless RAW-affiliated social media accounts that were so busy spreading venom against the people of AJK? The people of AJK need to be vigilant and understand that the enemy is at our doorstep, trying to turn us against each other.
The cruelest irony in all of this is that while India claimed to be a champion for the people of AJK, they were, in fact, disrespecting them in the most profound way. They took sincere concerns about livelihoods and shamelessly used them as props in their grand political theatre. They didn’t amplify Kashmiri voices; they tried to hijack them, superimposing their own false narrative and erasing the genuine reasons why our people stood up to be heard.
As Pakistan continues to address the needs of its citizens through civil and political discourse, we will remain unwavering in our commitment to exposing and confronting India’s shadow war. Truth has a way of enduring that recycled propaganda never can. The peace in Azad Kashmir is a testament to that truth and a clear indictment of a state that chooses to wage war through deception and lies.
