The most dangerous weapon in South Asia is not nuclear
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/5/26/the-most-dangerous-weapon-in-south-asia-is-not-nuclear Syeda Sana Batool 26 May 2025 The recent India-Pakistan confrontation made it quite clear the most dangerous weapon they have is narrative.
India portrayed Pakistan as a terror factory: duplicitous, rogue, a nuclear-armed spoiler addicted to jihad. Pakistani identity was reduced to its worst stereotype, deceptive and dangerous. Peace, in this worldview, is impossible because the Other is irrational.
Pakistan, in turn, cast India as a fascist state: led by a majoritarian regime, obsessed with humiliation, eager to erase Muslims from history. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the aggressor. India was the occupier. Their strikes were framed not as counterterrorism but as religious war.
This is the danger of media-driven identity construction. Once the Other becomes a caricature, dialogue dies. Diplomacy becomes weakness. Compromise becomes betrayal. And war becomes not just possible, but desirable.