THERE is nothing novel about progressives in India and Pakistan advocating peace between the two countries. We have continued to swim against the hawkish tide which insists on forever war between forever antagonistic nations. The hawks have been winning since the outset, but after the brief military exchange of May 2025, the voices of those who invoke the shared interests of ordinary people on both sides have been almost completely drowned out.

Once upon a time the ideological battle was waged by easily identifiable segments; the professional intelligentsia, state and corporate media, political classes, and so on. Last year’s conflict clarified that social media platforms are now most important, with 1.75 billion people across both sides of the border being the central protagonists in the construction and propagation of narratives.

Put simply, the very same young masses who share real, material interests are on the front lines of an ideological war in which everyone across the Radcliffe Line is an enemy.

Young people are easily drawn to this narrative, as succinctly explained in a recent article on these pages about ‘The Outrage Machine’, because hate sells, especially when there is money to be made by legacy and........

© Dawn