Until recently, the Pakistani army was faced with criticisms for its alleged role in the policy of all sections of society. A lot in Pakistan Accused the generals of manipulating the general elections of last year to prevent the ex-PM Imran Khan from power. They particularly blamed the army chief, General Asim Munnir, for his role in Incarcerate khanAn accusation that the army denies.
“We are faced with so many problems because of the army,” said a Karachi taxi driver a month ago. “They keep Khan behind bars because he disputed the domination of the military.”
But everything changed after Landy attack against Hindu tourists in the city of Pahalgam – In India Cashmere – On April 22, in which 26 people, mainly Hindu men, were killed.
The attack was claimed by a group called resistance to cashmere, which, according to India, is also known as the resistance front and is linked to Lashkar-E-Taiba (Let), an uninated terrorist organization.
New Delhi accused Islamabad of having supported the attack, an allegation that Pakistan denies.
The crisis quickly took place in a major military conflict between the two rivals of arc with nuclear arms.
On May 7, the Indian Air Force launched missiles, targeting what New Delhi said he was terrorist camps in Pakistan and cashmere administered by Pakistan.
Dozens died during these attacks, and the number of deaths increased when Pakistan retaliated with its own strikes two days later.
Pakistani soldier back in the driver’s seat
“Unpopular regimes get a boost of this type of military conflict. After the attack on India, even military criticism (Pakistani), which are generally liberal and secular, demanded that Islamabad are teaching a lesson in New Delhi,” said Naazir Mahmood, a political analyst based in Islamabad, in DW.
India and Pakistan have won victory in the recent Kashmir conflict, citizens rallying behind their governments.
In Pakistan, social media users praised the armed forces with increased nationalist fervor. In some cities, people went down to the street to “celebrate the success” of the Pakistani army compared to the Indian forces.
For example, Mariam Hassan, a 36 -year -old doctor in Lahore, told DW that she was proud of army performance.
“We have protected our country and have not become weak. We have shot down Indian fighter planes and attacked India in various places,” she said, referring to the statements of Islamabad.
Analyst Mahmood thinks that the soldiers have regained his inner strength. “Although the soldiers already controlled all the spheres of governance, his grip on politics will now be tightened,” he said.
The journalist and analyst based in Lahore, Farooq Sulehria, said that there was no scientific way to measure how the last fights prompted the popularity of the military – publications and comments on social media on consumer media certainly show an upward trend.
“What we have to understand is that support for the military emerges from an anti-Indian feeling. The military will now present this brief war as its own success. It will be used for the construction of images,” Sulehria told DW.
The story of the “Hindu defender”
Nationalists India also portray the episode as a “triumph” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist Party Bharatiya Janata (BJP).
The attack on Pahalgam expressed intense pressure on the government of Modi to retaliate and punish the authors and their donors.
“For India and Prime Minister Modi, the attack on April 22 had to be answered, more after the opposition and social media users played Modi’s clips to reprimand the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the aftermath of the Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack in 2008 (for a lack of response),” said Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian naval officer. “Consequently, Modi had to prove that it can lead India to” Ghus Kay Maaro “(enter and strike) to the province of Punjab in Pakistan, Muridke and Bahawalpur.”
“This story strengthens the image of an” India led by Modi “as being asserted, muscular and with zero tolerance for Djihadi terrorism.
But the Ceasefire in the United States Between India and Pakistan has upset the Hindu nationalists in India, according to Shanthie Mariet of Souza, president of the Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies.
“I don’t think the ceasefire is acceptable to all Indian nationalist groups because it is radically below their expectations of inflicting losses in Pakistan,” she told DW.
“BJP’s future policy towards Pakistan will remain the same until Islamabad renounces its claim on cashmere and ceases to promote terrorism. This was also the policy of other political parties,” said Souza.
Other borders in India and Pakistan
Experts say that despite the jingoisical feeling in the two countries following the conflict, it will ultimately be the ordinary people of the two nations that will bear the cost of violence.
“The interference of the Pakistani army in politics will increase more, and the space for politicians will reduce even more,” said analyst Mahmood.
The latest conflict will also have an economic cost for the Pakistani, according to Mahmood: “The government should present the annual budget in June. The government has already declared that it was planning to considerably increase the defense budget. Development funds will shrink. I see the country row with an iron fist in the coming years.”
For Sulehria, the current scenario does not increase good for civil rights in Pakistan. “There will now be a greater repression of people’s movements Baloutchistan and the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The authorities will use more repressive measures across the country. “”
When asked if New Delhi could use the conflict to marginalize criticism, including political opponents and minority communities, Bhaskar admitted that “Social networks restrictions“Could increase, but he hopes that New Delhi will not do on this road.
Murali Krishnan and Haroon Janjua, DW journalists in New Delhi and Islamabad, respectively, contributed to this report.
Published by: Srinivas Mazumdaru