In recent months, Pakistan has stood precariously close to the edge of conflict, not due to external provocation, but because of the internal desperation of its military leadership. At the center of this calculated chaos stands General Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff, whose actions betray a disturbing willingness to manufacture external confrontations to mask internal failures.
In February 2025, credible information surfaced suggesting that the Pakistani military regime was actively considering the provocation of India—or even inviting an attack on the Line of Control (LoC)—in a last-ditch attempt to unify a disillusioned populace and rehabilitate its tarnished image. This is not statecraft. It is a reckless and pathetic gamble by a military elite that has run out of political currency and domestic legitimacy.
The events surrounding the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on April 22, 2025, lend alarming weight to these suspicions. Reportedly, 26 Indian tourists were killed during the attack. As the massacre unfolded, the Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI), Lt. Gen. Asim Malik, chaired a critical meeting with top ISI division heads. On the agenda: diaspora manipulation, political engineering to weaken PTI, control over the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protests, and clandestine operations across Pakistan’s borders.
Multiple sources within the Pakistani intelligence community have alleged that this attack at Pahalgam was ordered by none other than General Asim Munir himself. His motivations appear chillingly clear: to provoke an Indian retaliation that could galvanize public opinion in his favour and reposition the military as the last bastion of national defense.
But this time, the old playbook is failing. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the military does not enjoy majority support in a potential face-off with India. In fact, many Pakistanis, judging by the reactions across social media platforms, are relieved to see the military’s stranglehold being challenged. How the mighty have fallen.
The outrage has even reached the military’s inner sanctums. Top brass now privately acknowledge that Asim Munir has steered Pakistan onto a path of self-destruction. His decisions have isolated Pakistan diplomatically, alienated allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and rendered the country an international pariah. His continued leadership is not just a national liability; it is a ticking time bomb. India’s suspension of the Indus Water Treaty has triggered alarm bells in water-stressed Pakistan, a lower riparian state already grappling with severe water shortages. The situation is particularly tense in Sindh, where public protests have erupted over dwindling water supplies and controversial plans to construct new canals on the River Indus.
One must also question the silence of Nawaz Sharif, the so-called benefactor of Asim Munir. Why has he not condemned India’s threats post-Pahalgam? Could it be that he too knows who truly orchestrated the attack?
The truth is difficult to digest, but it must be spoken. From the Mumbai attacks to Pulwama, and now Pahalgam, a pattern of rogue elements within the military conducting operations to serve narrow institutional interests is undeniable. During Pulwama, Asim Munir was the DG ISI. Now, as Army Chief, he is once again at the helm amid another international crisis.
To add insult to injury, ISI’s digital propaganda units have been frantically spinning the narrative online, using VPNs to circumvent bans and deflect blame. Their efforts only underscore the regime’s desperation and moral bankruptcy.
And yet, clarity has begun to pierce the fog. From Islamabad to Karachi, many Pakistanis are now openly questioning the motives of their military leaders. The killing of innocent civilians in Pahalgam is being seen not as a strategic maneuver, but as a war crime ordered by a cabal of generals with no mandate from the people.
A Pakistani medical doctor told me today: “I speak as a Pakistani, as a Muslim, and as someone who grew up seeing donation boxes in Islamabad for the ‘Kashmir jihad.’ Our faith taught us to support the oppressed—but not to abandon them as cannon fodder. If Pakistan truly believes in the Kashmiri cause, it must act openly, transparently, and within the bounds of international law. Anything less is cowardice dressed up as patriotism.”
Having grown up in Islamabad myself, I resonate with these words completely.
We must demand accountability. Asim Munir must be suspended pending a transparent inquiry. The perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack must be tried and punished. Pakistan cannot move forward while its military leadership operates above the law, driven by personal vendettas and delusions of grandeur.
To the world, we say: hold Pakistan’s military accountable, not its people. To India, we say: your occupation of Kashmir is illegal, and your collective punishment of its people is equally reprehensible. But this does not justify acts of terrorism, especially not those orchestrated for self-serving military objectives.
To our own people: do not let fear silence you. The truth liberates both the individual and the nation.
History will remember this moment. Let it remember us as those who chose clarity over confusion, and courage over complicity.
