While India and Pakistan have previously engaged in traditional warfare, their rivalry has now found a new battleground—social media. In 2025, as India threatens Pakistan with potential water supply cuts, Pakistanis have responded not with panic but with memes. These often self-deprecating jokes address everything from water shortages and excessive taxation to cricket defeats.

This phenomenon echoes earlier instances, such as the “fantastic tea” memes that emerged in 2019 after the capture of an Indian pilot. Today’s memes poke fun at serious issues, defusing tensions with dark humour and wit. They not only help people cope with stress but may even evoke laughter across the border, softening hostility.

Though not a perfect solution, this trend is a testament to resilience. Through humour, Pakistanis are finding solidarity and refusing to succumb to despair. It’s a collective way of saying, “We will survive—and so can you.”

HAMMAL ZAHID,

Kolahoo.