The Pahalgam Conspiracy: Unmasking Pakistan’s Narrative Warfare

On April 22, 2025, the tranquil, nature-admiring valleys of Pahalgam in the Union Territory Jammu & Kashmir came under the cloud of terrorism. The horrifying attack killed twenty-six people, most of them Hindu tourists and some injured. The event reminded everyone of the ever-present danger of terrorism from the other side with which India must deal. As soon as this ghastly act took place, mourning and fury were palpable in the entire country while the propaganda machine of Pakistan got into overdrive to change the narrative and blame the incident on India.

Responses like this by Pakistan are not an aberration but rather follow a time-tested tradition of information warfare or narrative warfare against India, especially after situations had put Pakistan’s complicity in fostering terrorism into sharp relief. For years now, Pakistan has been carrying out disinformation campaigns to deny its support for militant groups operating in Indian territory and has often resorted to charging India with outlandish allegations and conspiracy theories. The era in which information travels faster than light has ensured that propaganda has far-reaching consequences for a nation’s image and perception abroad, creating mayhem within and outside the concerned country. In this context, every patriotic Indian ought to understand how they operate this deception from the Pahalgam attack onward, dissect the false narratives that Pakistan propagates, and arm themselves with the truth to counter these lies.

A group of terrorist struck on the afternoon of April 22, 2025, targeting a crowd of tourists in the beautiful meadows of Baisaran-Pahalgam. The firing proved indiscriminate and left twenty-six dead while injuring many more. Indian security forces, soon on the heels of the incident, began an exhaustive search operation for the terrorists involved in this barbaric act. The Indian government, under Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah, strongly condemned the attack and reiterated to the world that this would not deter it from bringing about judicious action against terrorism and sponsors of terrorism.

Hours after the incident, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front calling itself Kashmir Resistance, alternatively known as The Resistance Front (TRF), claimed responsibility for the attack. The international community in general denounced the attack in no uncertain terms, with various countries and organizations expressing their sympathy and solidarity with India in her struggle against terrorism. This universal response conveyed the message about the gravity of the attack and the collective realization of the threat posed to the region by terrorist organizations.

Of course, the most predictable immediate reaction from Pakistan after the attack at Pahalgam was an outright denial of any responsibility in the incident. Pakistan has used this reflexive denial so far as an alibi for those times it needed to flee from any terrorist act imported from its soil. Pakistan argues that the Pahalgam tragedy was a “false flag” operation conducted by India itself.

Adding another layer to this conspiracy theory, some Pakistani officials and commentators have gone so far as to say that the synchronization of the attack with the visit of the US Vice President JD Vance in India was certainly not coincidental. In their opinion, the killings were orchestrated by India to garner international attention and sympathy coincided with this important visit. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif dismissed allegations of his country’s involvement, suggesting instead that the attack was a “revolution” against India. In an interview with Sky News, Asif acknowledged Pakistan’s history of supporting terrorist organizations, stating that Pakistan has “done the dirty work for the United States for about three decades”.

Furthermore, Pakistani narratives attempted to frame the attack as an outcome of internal unrest within Kashmir, attributing it solely to “homegrown resistance” against Indian policies in the region. This conveniently ignores the well-established external support and direction that fuels terrorism in the valley. Pakistani sources also alleged that India has failed to present any concrete evidence involving Pakistan in the attack. This allegation disregards the one put forward by TRF, a proven LeT operative, and the historical tendency of such attacks being attributed to Pakistan. In a glaringly misleading declaration, Pakistan’s Defence Minister even stated that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same group whose agent had accepted responsibility for the attack, is now “defunct” and not in the position to make such attacks. This assertion is refuted firmly and is against plenty of evidence regarding LeT’s current activities.

Pakistan’s war of narratives extended to the cyber space in the form of a properly coordinated social media campaign. Following the Pahalgam attack, there was a flood of anti-India propaganda on platforms such as X, spearheaded by accounts traceable to Pakistan, most of which displayed signs of state association or government support. The cyber-attack in this instance used pre-scripted, focused hashtags such as #IndianFalseFlag, #PahalgamDramaExposed, #ModiExposed, #IndiaFalseFlagExposed, #IndiaFalseFlagKing, and #IndianMediaExposed. These hashtags served as rallying points for the dissemination of false information, and most of the linked content traceable to Pakistan-based accounts. India has responded by blocking 16 Pakistani YouTube channels deemed misleading.

The content shared under these hashtags was extremely disturbing, such as the dissemination of hatefully edited AI-generated videos ridiculing the victims of the attack and even insulting Prime Minister Modi with insulting imagery. These acts reflect a heartless disregard for human suffering and a conscious effort to provoke hatred and hostility. Smear campaigns using hashtags like #IndianMediaExposed targeted Indian news outlets that offered factual coverage of the attack, emphasizing the involvement of Pakistan-based terrorist groups. Discrediting legitimate news outlets and controlling the dissemination of information was the goal of this strategy. The determination to turn up the volume on these trends was explicit, with several accounts urging “patriotic Pakistanis” to actively work by inserting the hashtags into their posts and comments. This seems to be a coordinated strategy that aims to create an illusion of popular support for Pakistan’s propaganda while muzzling the actual reporting.

Amid this setting of propaganda, a counter-narrative in fact emerged from within Pakistan itself. Frustrated by their own government and the extremely dire economic condition in the country, many Pakistani social media users mithering under the same sentiments on X and Instagram about their plight. Instead of indulging the anti-India rhetoric, these people resorted to humour and satire to shed light on their daily hardships, almost as if to suggest they have so much suffering in Pakistan that whatever little threat from India does not bother them now.

The memes began: “If you want to go to war, do it before 9 PM; our gas supply goes off after that” and “Will you stop the water? There is already a scarcity. Will you kill us? Our government is already killing us.” This unforeseen upsurge of self-mocking humour reflects a deep-rooted sense of frustration within Pakistan and, by sheer coincidence, calls out the hollow nature of state-sponsored propaganda.

With evidence and reason, the crux of Pakistan’s narrative, the false flag claim, collapses. No credible basis exists for the claim that India perpetrated the Pahalgam attack, which is counterbalanced by a long-established history of well-documented activities conducted by Pakistan-based terrorist groups working in Kashmir, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and its proxy, The Resistance Front. These groups have engaged in many bloody activities in India and international actors rightfully dub them “‘terrorist organizations”. Given such, Pakistani denial takes a high leap into incredibility with its claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba is now “‘defunct.” Such an assertion goes against all overwhelming evidence available that indicates LeT has been acting with continued operational ability and was responsible for many attacks-the most prominent of which were the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The attack on Pahalgam thus stands as indictment against the hollowness of Pakistan’s narrative ever since the condemnation of the attack has come from various countries and international organizations. Undeniably, countries have condemned the violence and expressed their solidarity with India. This was mass condemnation in order to show to the world the reality of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism directly contradicting Pakistan’s attempts to show India as the aggressor. Pakistan’s claims that India has not proven its involvement in these attacks are also inflammatory in that they do not recognize the history. On previous occasions following similar attacks like in Mumbai and Pathankot, India provided sufficient evidence to Pakistan, which Pakistan then denied and failed to act against the attackers.A statement from a proxy of a Pakistan-based terrorist organization is, in and of itself, substantial evidence that Pakistan chooses to ignore.

Pakistan’s narrative war against India is waged employing all the classical techniques of propaganda. Central to the strategy is the complete denial of involvement in terrorist attacks, even when concrete evidence overwhelmingly suggests otherwise. In its defence, Pakistan almost always blames India for having carried out these attacks, often levelling the unfounded accusation of “false flag” operations; this employs the blame game as a tool to create dissent between the states. 

The digital age has lent Pakistan another extremely powerful weapon for the propagation of its propaganda through social media platforms. Coordinated campaigns occur with specific hashtags that may involve fake accounts, bots, and even influencers; this methodology helps them spread their narratives far and wide in a short span of time. The recurring themes in Pakistan’s propaganda include emotional messages exploiting sentiments pertaining to religion and Kashmir, in continued attempts to paint India as the oppressor of Muslims and generate international sympathy for its case in Kashmir. Another major weapon in Pakistan’s information warfare is the deliberate practice of confusing and misleading the audiences with misinformation. The most disturbing recent trend has been the use of AI-generated content such as deepfake videos and images and the manipulation of heavily edited propaganda on a vast scale. This is indeed an escalation in their information warfare capabilities.

The history of using information as a tool in the current India-Pakistan conflict starts from the time of partition in 1947 and remains long and sordid through occurrences such as the 1971 war, Kargil War, 2008 Mumbai attacks, or the Pulwama attack. Most of these events have been followed by intense information warfare campaigns consolidated with the mention of their being initiated by Pakistan. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), which is the media arm of the Pakistani military, has historically played an integral part in crafting and distributing these propaganda messages against India. Common themes have involved painting India as an aggressor, alleging human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, and the constant persistent attempts to undermine India’s international standing and influence. However, with the advent of the Internet and social media, Pakistan has updated its tactics, using these channels for quick and mass distribution of falsehoods.

Defence analysts focusing on South Asia, particularly India-Pakistan relations, have confirmed that Pakistan should deploy information warfare economically to persuade or destabilize India without military action, nuclear deterrent notwithstanding. Most experts accept such input as critical to amplifying Pakistan’s propaganda through social media, which provides access to an immense audience worldwide for its rapidity and reach. Most experts claim that the propaganda of Pakistan aims mainly at exploiting the perceived internal vulnerabilities of India, such as communal tensions, and attempting to consistently gather international support for its age-old claim on Kashmir. Pakistani analysts find it interesting to throw that accusation of a mirror image in many of these instances, framing India’s factual responses to terrorism attacks as propaganda and even blaming India for organizing events like the Pahalgam attack to achieve its agenda.

Table 1: Debunking Pakistan’s False Narratives on the Pahalgam Attack

The same evidence that stands true for the Indian people would validate their democratic values and commitment to justice. For within this age of information explosion, it is imperative that each citizen guard his heart and mind much more carefully in judging information-from sources that have an established history of hostility and propagation of dishonest information against India. Discernment in consumption of news or social media, together with authenticated verification by credible sources, is paramount in countering disinformation. The real strength of India remains the unity of her people, the firm and deep-rooted democratic principles, and steadfast commitment to truth and justice. We are not going to be swayed by all these baseless accusations and fabricated narratives across the border. Our nation stands tall and resolute against all forms of aggression, whether they be on our physical borders or rather complicated e-borders.

The world must also notice that Pakistan has, by all intent and purposes over time, again and again, made terrorism and propaganda a part and parcel of its state policy. It is an imperative for region and global peace and stability that Pakistan be made to keep its commitment and made accountable in this regard, besides being forced to dismantle the very infrastructure of terrorism that it continues to harbour. Only through sustained collective international pressure can we hope to bring an end to this vicious cycle of violence and deception.