Key Points:
- Ladakh protests expose Modi’s failing narrative.
- AJK under Pakistan stays peaceful and democratic.
- Delhi fuels anti-Pakistan hype to mask internal chaos.
- The real turmoil lies inside India, not across the LoC.
The loudest propaganda often hides the deepest insecurity. That is exactly what India’s latest media campaign over Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) reflects. As New Delhi intensifies its rhetoric about supposed unrest across the LoC, it faces a far more combustible crisis within its own borders — the Ladakh uprising. What began as peaceful protests for constitutional rights has spiraled into a movement that threatens to expose the myth of the Modi government’s stability.
Instead of addressing the anger in Ladakh, the regime has turned its gaze outward, painting Pakistan’s AJK as the problem. But the world can see the contrast: AJK functions democratically under Pakistan’s constitution, while India’s occupied territories remain under lockdowns, curfews, and communication blackouts.
The current turmoil In Ladakh is not an isolated flashpoint. It is the inevitable outcome of New Delhi’s 2019 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy and bifurcate the region into union territories directly controlled from Delhi. For years, Ladakh’s residents demanded statehood, inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, and local control over land and jobs. Their pleas were ignored until their patience ran out. When protests escalated in Leh and Kargil this September, the government responded not with dialogue but with brutal crackdowns, mass arrests, and internet shutdowns. The detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, cancellation of his NGO’s licence, and the death of an ex-serviceman during demonstrations tore apart the illusion of peace. What was once the BJP’s showpiece of nationalism has turned into its most embarrassing failure.
To mask this internal rebellion, India’s state-controlled media has unleashed a calculated diversion: amplifying fabricated stories about instability in AJK.
This “AJK crisis” narrative serves one purpose to shift public anger away from Modi’s mismanagement and toward Pakistan. It mirrors a familiar pattern: whenever domestic unrest rises; India blames Pakistan or manufactures a “terror” threat. The same playbook was used after military debacles like Balakot and after the recent Operation Sindoor embarrassment, where the Indian Army faced humiliation.
Now, as Ladakh’s unrest intensifies and China’s shadow looms over the Line of Actual Control, India’s civil-military establishment has turned to its oldest tool anti-Pakistan hysteria to rally nationalist sentiment before elections.
Yet facts stubbornly defy propaganda. AJK remains peaceful, politically active, and constitutionally secure within Pakistan’s democratic framework. Its government, judiciary, and media operate freely.
In contrast, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) and Ladakh are defined by military sieges, extrajudicial killings, demographic manipulation, and total control of expression.
The United Nations and major human rights watchdogs have documented these abuses in detail, but India’s response remains one of denial and diversion. When the truth in Ladakh becomes impossible to hide, New Delhi simply inflates the AJK issue, hoping international media will take the bait.
But the comparison only sharpens the contrast Pakistan’s governance model in AJK stands as a reminder of what freedom looks like next to occupation. Modi’s strategy is not new. Since 1947, India’s ruling elite has struggled to accept Pakistan’s existence as an equal sovereign state.
From aiding the separation of East Pakistan to sponsoring subversive groups and financing terrorism along Pakistan’s borders, India has consistently tried to destabilize its neighbor. Whenever caught, it crafts counter-narratives of victimhood pretending to be the target of terrorism while suppressing Kashmiris and persecuting minorities at home.
The May 2025 false flag operation, aimed at framing Pakistan as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” collapsed under scrutiny, leaving India internationally embarrassed. Even Western powers and regional states now recognize the hollowness of New Delhi’s claims. That diplomatic isolation has driven the current obsession with AJK a symbolic target to reassert control and manipulate domestic sentiment.
But this propaganda offensive cannot rewrite the facts on the ground. The Indian military is under severe stress, its morale shaken by repeated failures.
After Operation Sindoor and the embarrassment on the Ladakh front, Indian generals are resorting to loud rhetoric and irresponsible statements to project strength ahead of elections.
These provocations are aimed more at voters than at adversaries. They forget that Pakistan’s deterrence remains credible and comprehensive, capable of responding decisively to any misadventure.
In every military confrontation, Pakistan has proven its readiness whether in air defense, naval response, or ground engagement. India’s leaders, fully aware of this reality, prefer media theatrics over actual confrontation. Their goal is not victory, but distraction.
India’s crisis is internal, not external. Ladakh’s unrest, Manipur’s ethnic violence, IIOJK’s resistance, and growing dissent among India’s minorities expose the fractures within its own system.
No amount of noise over AJK can conceal that Ladakh is burning, its people are defiant, and the world is watching. While New Delhi obsesses over propaganda wars, it ignores the real battle one for legitimacy within its own borders.
Pakistan’s stance remains consistent and principled: it supports the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination under UN resolutions and urges India to reverse its illegal 2019 actions. The Modi government may shout louder, but it cannot silence reality. The crisis is not across the LoC it is within India itself.
