AFTER receiving a thrashing at the hands of Pakistan defence forces in the latest round of tension, India is relying solely on false propaganda in a bid to restore its bruised image, which is akin to ‘an embarrassed cat scratching the pillar’ (Khisyani Billi Khamba Noche).
Apart from leakage of faked accounts of bravery and professionalism of its defence personnel, there is a comprehensive exercise to camouflage the intensive damage done to its military assets by Pakistan, India is also indulging in propaganda against the nuclear programme of the country, which effectively served as a deterrence against India’s military ambitions and the dream to establish its regional hegemony.
While Indian media circulated fabricated story about radiation leak in Pakistan as a result of Indian air strikes, its Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave vent to his country’s frustration by suggesting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should take control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Pakistan throughout has demonstrated its conduct as a responsible nuclear power having the world’s state-of-the-art command and control system and a fail-proof security mechanism.
This is widely acknowledged by the international community including the United States and the IAEA but India’s frustration is quite understandable as, on different occasions, the presence of nuclear deterrence prevented destruction in the region due to Indian jingoism and imperialism.
Nuclear deterrence apart, the latest battle between the two countries also confirmed beyond any doubt that Pakistan has also achieved conventional deterrence because of intelligent use of the technology and professionalism of its defence forces.
Pakistan Foreign Office has rightly pointed out that the suggestion to hand over control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal exposes India’s “growing insecurity over Pakistan’s robust conventional and nuclear deterrence” adding the remarks are “provocative” and aimed at undermining the credibility of its nuclear deterrent.
India is trying to raise security concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear assets, which, the world admits, are in safe hands, forgetting India’s own record of frequent incidents of theft and smuggling of nuclear material as has repeatedly been documented by global institutions and reported by international media.
As for reports about radiation in Pakistan due to the Indian attack, the propaganda attracted the attention of the IAEA, which told the BBC that “no radiation leakage or incident has been detected at any nuclear site in Pakistan.
” Otherwise too, India cannot afford to target any of the nuclear installations or facilities in Pakistan when Pakistan has the capability to respond in kind.
Indian propaganda to portray performance of its armed forces in a positive light also stands exposed by an American security and defence analyst Dr C Christine Fair who dismissed India’s assertions that it shot down Pakistani aircraft, calling them “nonsense”.
Fair, a political scientist specializing in security, counterterrorism and South Asia, has been an open critic of Pakistan, which some on social media argue makes her dismissal of India’s claims particularly significant.
Appearing in an Indian television show, she also expressed surprise over propaganda that India inflicted massive damage on several air bases in Pakistan and ‘paralyzed’ Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
As against this, the entire world and neutral observers confirm India’s military losses including downing of Rafale fighter jets and destruction of its pride air defence system called S400.
The massive blow to its defence installations along with unprecedented cyber attacks contributed a lot in bringing high-flying decision-makers in New Delhi to earth, begging for an immediate ceasefire.
Previously, there were reports of Pakistan destroying five Indian fighter planes but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who met with frontline personnel, including pilots, engineers, and technicians during his visit to Kamra on Thursday, confirmed the downing of a sixth Indian aircraft—a Mirage 2000—near Pampore, east of Srinagar, on the night of May 6–7.
He said the incident stood as “a testament to the PAF’s combat excellence and the unflinching resolve of our defence forces to protect the motherland at all costs.
” In fact, Pakistan’s swift and calibrated response swift and calibrated response not only neutralized the threat but also delivered a decisive blow to hostile military infrastructure—unequivocally reaffirming Pakistan’s unwavering resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In the backdrop of provocative statements and threats being hurled by New Delhi, the Prime Minister declared in categorical terms that Pakistan’s Armed Forces remain fully prepared and resolutely committed to defending every inch of our territory.
Any aggression will be countered with a timely, proportionate, and decisive response.
Contrary to hollow claims of achievements by Indian forces, details have emerged of how the cyber wing of Pakistan’s armed forces was actively involved in the operation, inflicting significant disruptions across multiple Indian domains, including power infrastructure and petroleum systems.
The Pakistani cyber team caused severe damage to Indian communications, disabling official government emails and the OTP infrastructure, adding that national communications suffered heavy disruption.
Servers at Indian airports were taken down, impacting the Indian Air Force’s communications and interrupting railway systems across several regions.
Apart from this Pakistan gained access to India’s national, eastern, northern, and western load dispatch centres, temporarily disabling systems, adding that the breach cut electricity to approximately 80% of Indian consumers for a limited period.
There are also credible reports that the operation accessed and extracted data from over 90 government and corporate sector websites, including those belonging to the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Border Security Force, Unique Identification Authority of India, and Indian Railways.
India is also making false claims that it was Pakistan, which sought a ceasefire but reports from across the globe confirm the request came from New Delhi in the backdrop of befitting response it received from Pakistan to the naked aggression.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar also spoke on Thursday of the extraordinary developments that led to a ceasefire between India and Pakistan on May 10 and took the people of India, particularly its warmongering media, by surprise.
He emphasized that it was India, not Pakistan, which sought a ceasefire during last week’s escalation.
Clarifying, he noted in fact US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a telephonic conversation conveyed that India was willing to halt hostilities.
It is encouraging that despite provocative statements by India, the ceasefire is generally holding and hopefully better sense will prevail in New Delhi and concrete movements will be made towards resolution of disputes and differences through discussions and dialogue.
The poverty stricken millions cannot afford continuous threats to peace and security of the region.
