Truth is the casualty in the India-Pakistan conflict

The ceasefire might be holding, but the war of misinformation and censorship continues— while Kashmir bleeds in silence.

12 year old twins, born 5 minutes apart died within minutes of each other in Pakistani shelling in Poonch (Kashmir)

In the long and bloody history of India-Pakistan relations, ceasefires have often come not with peace,but with silence — a manufactured quiet that drowns out dissent, suppresses journalism, and blurs the line between narrative and truth. The most recent thaw between the two nuclear neighbors, India and Pakistan after the attack on tourists in Pahalgam , Kashmir on the 26th of April and the retaliation by India in the form of a military operation called "Operation Sindoor" is no exception. While fighter jets retreated and shelling quieted along the Line of Control, an equally fierce battle raged online and in the media — not for peace, but for control of the story.

On the 8th of May, as shelling continued between India and Pakistan, villages bombarded, sirens blazing, civilians injured and killed, the Elon Musk social media platform X announced that the India government had reportedly demanded the takedown of over 8,000 handles, including those belonging to international news organizations. The note said "X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees. The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users.

In most cases, the Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws. For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts. To comply with the orders, we will withhold the specified accounts in India alone. We have begun that process. However, we disagree with the Indian government’s demands. Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech".

The censorship extended beyond the platform. A statement released by independent news website 'Wire' stated its website was blocked on government orders for running a story on Indian fighter jets being allegedly downed by Pakistan based on a comprehensive report by CNN. ( https://thewire.in/media/statement-by-the-wire-on-the-governments-blocking-and-unblocking-of-its-website )

Twitter handles of independent news platforms like the Maktoob media (that focuses on news about the marginalised) and BBC Urdu have been blocked with no explanation given by the government. The state of Jammu and Kashmir whose civilians were worst affected by the India Pakistan conflict with cross border shelling had few takers for their stories. 15 civilians lost their lives in the Indian administered Kashmir and multiple injured, their homes destroyed. While jingoism, chest thumping became the norm, voices of reason that gave information were censored.

Twitter handles of senior Kashmiri journalists Muzammil Jaleel and Anuradha Bhasin were blocked from viewing in India.

What the public got instead was a firehose of unverified claims and nationalist posturing. Indian and Pakistani news channels took turns airing footage of fighter jets and fiery studio debates, peddling brazen disinformation under the guise of breaking news.

With no official confirmation and deliberate obfuscation from both sides, news coverage devolved into a theater of conjecture, where propaganda wore the costume of reporting.

Once envisioned as the fourth pillar of democracy, the press in both India and Pakistan has often become an accomplice in stoking hostility. Television studios have turned into battlegrounds, where journalists and anchors engage in performative patriotism rather than investigative reporting.

The home page of Indian fact checking website, Alt News and Boom Fact check was drowned with reports of fake news by Indian news channels that included boasting of a military coup in Pakistan. An Indian Muslim teacher who lost his live in a Pakistani shelling was labeled a commander of a dreaded terror outfit by one of India's leading news channels. (https://www.altnews.in/his-name-was-qari-mohammad-iqbal-he-was-not-a-terrorist/)

Such was the intensity of fake news that the Jammu and Kashmir police alongwith the Indian army had to put a tweet warning of consequences. In Pakistan too, news-channels played their own version of victory while sharing year old images of the war in Gaza as evidence that they had bombed India in retaliation.

As the conflict progressed and the world watched in anxiety and apprehension with two leading countries in Asia engulfed in one of the most dangerous battles, the United States officials including Vice President J.D.Vance called it an internal problem of India and Pakistan and they had nothing to do with it.

Amidst the confusion, U.S. President Donald Trump inserted himself into the narrative, declaring that he had personally mediated the ceasefire — and, more fantastically, claimed he had averted a nuclear war. Pakistan, eager for diplomatic capital, thanked Washington just before it received a $1.2 billion bailout from the IMF.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the media and thanked the US leadership for facilitating the ceasfire. India meanwhile gave no inkling of Trump or US leadership involvement in the ceasfire negotiations insisting that the talks were held directly between India's Director General of Military Operations and his counterpart over the phone without the involvement of a third party

On the 11th of May Trump went on to suggest that the trade deals with India and Pakistan had a role to play in the ceasefire between countries that were almost on the verge of a nuclear war that could have killed millions on both sides. An alarming statement that found confirmation from neither the Pakistani side nor the Indian side with 'source' attributed news stories claiming victories of the political leadership in both countries.

On the 12th of May, soon after Trump made the statement, The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a video message to the country without mentioning the US role or denying the statements made either by Donald Trump or the officials in the White House. Yesterday the Ministry of External Affairs in India reacted to the statement by Donald Trump. The Ministry said “From the time Operation Sindoor commenced on May 7 till the understanding on cessation of firing and military action on May 10, there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving military situation. The issue of trade did not come up in any of the discussions”

However in Riyadh, Trump re-iterated his mediation in helping India-Pakistan with the ceasefire agreement. In his speech he said “Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan, and I used trade to a large extent to do it,” Trump said, addressing a crowd.He added, “I said, fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles. Let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully.”

So what is the truth behind the ceasfire? How many human lives lost, what were the terms and conditions of the ceasefire ? Trump also spoke about internationalising the Kashmir issue and solving the crisis once and for all. India has long maintained that it will not allow any third party interference on Kashmir. So on what basis did Trump talk about solving the Kashmir crisis ? In absence of any answers, narratives became the truth, and the people of Kashmir who have become the ultimate casualty of cross border terrorism yet again living with fear looming over their heads.

Both countries led by majoritarian leaders, carrying the trauma of the partition of both countries in 1947, held hostage to their past claimed to have won the battle, or the battle of narratives. Pakistani army chief Asim Munir whose popularity was on the decline while ruling the country with an iron hand became a hero of the masses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP released an advertisement on its Twitter handle mocking former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for cowardice and hailing Modi as a hero for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan. In a show of optics, the Bharatiya Janta Party has announced a nationwide rally to convey the success of 'Operation Sindoor' led by Prime Minister Modi to the nation (https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/bjp-to-launch-nationwide-campaign-highlighting-operation-sindoor-plans-tiranga-yatras-across-india)

As critical questions started seeping in the form of tweets and questions by independent journalists, a spokesperson for the ruling party in India, Amit Malviya tweeted "Make no mistake: in the days ahead, various arms lobbies, funded by foreign agencies, will go into overdrive, planting stories through pliable journalists willing to act against India’s interests. This will be part of a globally coordinated campaign aimed at influencing public opinion, either to promote their preferred military hardware or to undermine India’s defense preparedness". The spokesperson tweeted this in response to a journalist asking critical questions about drowning of Indian fighter aircrafts. The tweet was an exercise in framing any critical questioning of the military exercise by journalists as a form of treason.

In all this, one voice remained notably absent: the voice of truth. The human cost of escalation — civilians displaced, families shattered, soldiers lost to silence, charred remains of young children— was overshadowed by rhetorical victories and social media skirmishes. Instead of independent verification, we got victory laps. Instead of accountability, we got algorithms suppressing journalists.

A ceasefire is supposed to be a pause in violence. But if it becomes a pretext for silencing journalists, stifling dissent, and rewriting events in real time, then it is peace in name only. Until both India and Pakistan allow the truth — however inconvenient — to emerge alongside diplomacy, each ceasefire will only mark the start of a different kind of war.

The 2025 ceasefire, while a temporary reprieve, underscores the enduring challenge of reconciling competing truths in the India-Pakistan conflict. Until both nations commit to confronting and acknowledging the full spectrum of their shared history, peace will remain elusive. The ultimate casualty in this conflict is not just human lives but the truth itself.

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