In the Hindutva politics of the dark theatre, facts are already props long ago. The latest show, played under the banner Operation Mahadev, is one more horror show in the long chain of specious flag operations meant to play on public emotion, shift attention from domestic failure, and rekindle animosity towards Pakistan. With Narendra Modi about to make his Lok Sabha speech, this so-called “encounter” is textbook diversion, an old formula aimed at saving a sinking reputation.
Indian media, as ever, performed its designated role with clockwork accuracy. Without showing anyone any tangible proof or legitimate international corroboration, television anchors blamed Pakistan instantly. “Pak-backed terrorists neutralized in Pahalgam,” they shouted, conveniently overlooking glaring discrepancies in the visuals of the operation. Experts worldwide pointed out that the weapons in the clip looked inactive, the video itself was staged with the finesse of a Bollywood B-film, and the so-called terrorists had no verified identities. We are once again asked to accept an unverified account, perfectly timed to be used politically by a master. Let us not be confused; it is not the first time India has used such staged drama. Operation Mahadev is a predictable sequence of events: whenever the Modi government is strategically embarrassed or suffers domestic opposition, an encounter or “cross-border” incident magically comes into being. After the embarrassing setbacks of Operation Sindoor, when India’s military story in Kashmir was under international questioning, Modi’s BJP must have a diversion. And when unemployment spikes, farmer protests gain momentum, or corruption scandals simmer, the formula repeats: invent an enemy, blame Pakistan, and shout it from every studio in Delhi.
India’s false flag obsession is not accidental, it is policy. Under Modi, the militarization of nationalism has become a political tool. From Pulwama to Balakot, and now Pahalgam, India has perfected the art of fabricating crises to manufacture consent. Such actions are not usually interrogated since they are based on speed, emotion, and saturation. Indian social media was clogged with hashtags, Photoshopped images, and slogans labeling Pakistan as a terror state within hours of the meeting. The goal is not to educate, but to incite.
Far more alarming is the complicity of international watchdogs that remain mum on India’s weaponization of fake counter-terrorism. Why, one wonders, are there never international observers for these meetings? Why is the proof never made available to the UN or outside forensic investigators? Because the mission was never about truth, but about optics. Operation Mahadev is the same thing. A strategically constructed narrative scheduled just before Modi’s speech, meant to provide him with a nationalist high ground and silence criticism of his government’s increasing failures.
The reality is too inconvenient. India’s internal security continues to be in shards, its military morale bruised by strategic failures in Kashmir, and its diplomatic credibility dented after being apprehended spying on friends and hunting dissidents overseas. When facts are unmanageable, the BJP invents fear. When the people want explanations, it provides enemies. And when legitimacy wanes, it resorts to deception wrapped in the tricolor.
Conversely, Pakistan has continued to demand autonomous probes into such allegations. It has appealed to the international community to seek facts before swallowing New Delhi propaganda. Neither Islamabad nor regional stability benefits from the escalation, however. India does. Each fake operation enables Modi to trot out nationalism, muzzle critics, and present himself as the last bastion against anarchy. In so doing, however, he undermines India’s democracy and spurs a regional arms race that puts millions at risk.
The world has to wake up to this trend. It is not only immoral, it is risky, to use counterterrorism as a political smokescreen. It destabilizes South Asia, distorts the global struggle against extremism, and undercuts the already shaky trust between nuclear neighbors. If India keeps making crises with impunity, it will not only burn its own credibility, it will burn the region with it.
From Pahalgam to Mahadev, Modi’s regime has shown that it prefers myth over truth, spectacle over substance, and division over dialogue. It’s time to call these operations what they are: state-sponsored deceit masquerading as security. Pakistan will not be baited by theatrics, nor silenced by slander. The world must decide: will it applaud India’s stagecraft, or demand accountability before the next act begins?
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