NARENDRA Modi, the prime minister of India, tried to use the Pahalgam tragedy for electoral gains. Assuming the roles of the victim, the judge and the executioner, Modi promptly blamed Pakistan without any sort of investigation to ignite nationalist passion among the masses. Then reality struck, and he was taught a lesson or two by Pakistan.

On May 12, in his first national address since the escalation began, Modi resur-faced to glorify the Indian operation when actual events bore little resemblance to his narrative.

What he did not admit was the colossal failure of India’s intelligence and defence apparatus, and the devastating retaliation India faced from a militarily and eco-nomically smaller Pakistan. Instead of acknowledging the risks he plunged the region into — and the global threat such recklessness posed — he offered a hollow narrative that concealed more than it revealed.

What he deliberately omitted was the fact that several Indian missiles had been misfired and they had landed within India-occupied Kashmir and eastern Punjab, killing and maiming civilians — a damning failure of India’s command and control systems. Modi also chose to keep his silence over the manner in which India had to plead for de-escalation.

The Indian prime minister had stayed away from public view till May 12. His disappearance was not tactical restraint, but a tacit admission of miscalculation. When he finally returned to deliver his speech, it was less a declaration of victory and more an exercise in damage control.

His rhetoric turned to nuclear threats and pseudo-moral posturing. He vowed to respond to future attacks on Indian terms, claimed that India would no longer tolerate nuclear blackmail, and blurred the lines between governments and terrorists. He decried Pakistani officers for offering funeral prayers for those killed, presenting it as evidence of state-sponsored terrorism. Yet, the speech revealed more desperation than dominance.

Despite his thunderous declarations, Modi could not undo the most significant outcome of the recent conflict: the re-internationalisation of the Kashmir issue. For years, India had worked to suppress international discourse on Kashmir, but, thanks to its own aggression, Pakistan’s stance gained legitimacy and diplomatic traction.

The chest-thumping nationalism that sought to project dominance has instead exposed deep vulnerabilities. From this humiliation, India may take years to recover — if at all.

For now, the illusion of India’s self-claimed greatness has gone up in smoke, replaced by wreckage, remorse, and rhetorical retreat. Modi seems to have resurfaced from the crisis unreformed.

Qamar Bashir
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2025