Messaging Matters: Col Sofiya Qureshi (left), Foreign Secretary Vikram Miskri and Ala Vyomika Singh commander at a media conference on ‘Operation Sindoor’ | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
I woke up the morning of May 7 to see X in flames. The statements flew: India had lost the war, all our donuts and airplanes had been demolished, the air bases bombarded on the ground and, apparently, Pakistan had won.
Such dry humor before breakfast was an expected explosion, and it did not take long to realize that this was the work of the low -effect Troll farms, possible paid, probable from the other side of the border.
Since the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, addressing the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pok-Launchpads for anti-india-social media has been the second battlefield.
The Pakistani trolls had an advantage, but their defense minister, Khawaja Asif, stole the program when, in a CNN interview, he said that five Indian airplanes were demolished, “proof of social networks,” he added. Cue laughs and meme Mayhem. Let’s not forget that this is the same gentleman who previously admitted Pakistan’s support for terrorism in the name of the West.
Promoted by their bold confidence, Pakistani Internet users entered into an overmarcha, recycling of video game images, especially weapon 3, and slapping in dramatic subtitles with spelling and grammar that challenged all known rules.
Meanwhile, the Indians in X launched their counteroffensive. The hashtags like #indiastikesback, #Operationsindoor, #kashmirisours and #Nosafehaven were in a trend in a matter of hours. The influencers, former service (or each strip) and political figures of the entire spectrum launched. The liberals criticized the government, yes, but the Armed Forces obtained an almost universal support. Among the opposition leaders, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi published in support.
The Bollywood and Cricket stars were not far away. Some joined with patriotic positions, others were criticized for saying anything. Ranveer Allahabadia once again achieved his act ‘Now Live, Now Elimete’.
DESI MEDIA, not to be overcome, they entered Hiperdrive. Since the night of May 8, the channels issued sirens, CGI explosions and news tickers who claimed that India had bombarded Karachi, captured Lahore, surrounded Islamabad and caused a coup d’etat against Prime Minister Sharif.
The metrics
X Publication volume: Indian users shoot 3.5 million publications. The Pakistani achieved around 2.1 million.
Commitment: Indian positions saw a much higher interaction: many crossed 1 million I like/reimbursements. Few Pakistaní publications obtained 200K settings.
My main trends
Falas driven by AI: The clips of deep and manipulated faks flew fast and furious, mainly on WhatsApp and X, moving on both sides.
CIBER-Fensiva: The hacktivists and arms of the media were hard with narrative control, stimulating nationalism.
Celebrity pressure: Stars and influencers were analyzed. Lara Raj, a K-pop artist, faced a violent reaction for being silent.
So who won?
Delumno say it with certainty. But for most indicators (scope, coordination and commitment, India reached the top. The combination of memes war, emotional narration, official updates and base solidarity worked.
Pakistan’s digital offensive, although noisy, hesitated credibility. The images of the game, the exaggerated statements and the lack of cohesion harm their case. Only friendly media could not patch the credibility gap.
Crucially, both diasporas accelerated, influence the global talk around the conflict.
And then came the image that united almost in India: two uniformed official women: a Hindu, a Muslim, side by side. A quiet but powerful reminder or what secular India represents. That was the true viral victory.
This was more than a missile battle: it was a modern war of memes, erroneous and moral information. And India had the high digital land.
(Shubho Senguta is a digital seller with an analog adjustment)
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Posted on May 18, 2025
