Declarations of victory and defeat have become increasingly difficult to decipher in the fog of social media, where compet­ing narratives from Pakistan and India clash amid a flood of misinformation—much of it deliberately propagated by the Indian media. This obfuscation is no accident. It is a calculated attempt to feed the Indian public a false sense of triumph, one designed to trans­late into votes for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its leader, the butcher of Gujarat. But beyond spin and propaganda, true outcomes are often reflected not in words, but in emotions.

Facts can be twisted in front of a camera or behind a keyboard, but when it comes to processing the emotional aftermath of a conflict—especially one that India has tied to its imagined existential mascu­linity—the contrast is stark. On one side, Pakistan is celebrating. Its people are honouring heroes, staging impromptu rallies, organising jet flybys, and commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of fallen soldiers. There is pride, there is unity, and there is resolve.

India, in contrast, has turned inward in self-destruction. Like a cor­nered beast, it is lashing out at its own. The blame game has begun, targeting everyone from government officials and judges to journal­ists and even travel bloggers. Citizens are now being arrested not for breaking the law, but for challenging the BJP’s monolithic narrative.

Muslim professors have been detained for simply urging better governance. YouTubers have been jailed for engaging with Paki­stanis online. The Indian state, rather than projecting confidence, appears consumed by paranoia. It is devouring its own, afraid of dissent, fearful of reflection.

In the end, the emotional temperature tells the real story. One nation stands tall, mourning its martyrs with dignity and celebrating its resil­ience. The other spirals into repression and fear. That is all one needs to know to understand who believes they won—and who knows they lost.