After the Pahalgam bloodbath—the place terrorists from Pakistan crossed the border and executed 26 individuals in chilly blood—the standard geopolitical script started to unfold. India condemned, Pakistan denied, and the West reached for its thesaurus of euphemisms: “gunmen,” “militants,” “insurgents.” However one thing uncommon occurred this time. The sharpest rebuke didn’t come from New Delhi or Washington. It got here from inside Pakistan itself.
Not from TV anchors or ministers. However from on a regular basis Pakistanis—with Wi-Fi in a single hand, rage within the different, and no illusions left to interrupt.
Take this tweet: “Jung karni ho to 9 baje se pehle kar lena, 9:15 per fuel chali jati hai hamari.”
Translation: If you happen to’re planning a warfare, please do it earlier than 9am—we run out of fuel after that.
It will be hilarious if it weren’t heartbreakingly correct. Pakistan, a nuclear energy, can’t assure a cup of tea within the morning.
One other tweet provided mock-condolences: “Individuals of Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad—we’re sorry.”
A citizen apologising not for terrorism—however for governance. Or the shortage of it.
This isn’t your on a regular basis political frustration. That is one thing extra profound. Extra fatalistic. What we’re witnessing is post-collapse satire—not born from resistance, however from resignation. Not defiance, however detachment. Pakistanis aren’t mocking their army, politicians, or failing establishments as a result of they’re indignant. They’re doing it as a result of there’s nothing left to do however chortle.
The timing of this public self-roast is revealing. Pakistan has as soon as once more been implicated in a cross-border terrorist assault. The victims had been focused for his or her faith. The attackers had been affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy, The Resistance Entrance. And whereas the world watched, Pakistanis didn’t take to the streets to assist their “freedom fighters.” They didn’t protest Indian overseas coverage. They turned inward—and commenced roasting the very state that enabled this tragedy.
Not as a result of they had been all of the sudden overcome with guilt. However as a result of they’ve understood what the world nonetheless struggles to say aloud:
The true sufferer of Pakistan’s obsession with jihad isn’t India. It’s Pakistanis themselves.
Their gas. Their meals. Their foreign money. Their security. Their dignity.
All sacrificed on the altar of “strategic depth.”
Whereas generals polish their medals and challenge denials, the general public boils with a mixture of exhaustion and readability. There’s no electrical energy. Fuel is rationed like contraband. Inflation hovers at 30%. The rupee is in freefall. The federal government runs on loans. And when Pakistan was purported to host the ICC Champions Trophy, India refused to indicate up—forcing Pakistan to play on impartial floor in Dubai. The punchline wrote itself: even Pakistan can’t host itself and not using a connecting flight.
This stage of civic self-awareness would have as soon as been harmful. A decade in the past, a sarcastic tweet may get you disappeared. At present, the dam has damaged. Not as a result of the state has grown tolerant—however as a result of the individuals have grown numb. The rot is not underground. It’s trending on X.
If memes are the final resort of a powerless populace, then Pakistanis at the moment are full-time philosophers. Their humour is bleak, their metaphors are postmodern, and their sarcasm is indistinguishable from disappointment. This isn’t the comedy of revolt. That is the comedy of collapse.
After Pahalgam, the remainder of the world checked out Pakistan with suspicion. However for as soon as, Pakistanis appeared inward—they usually laughed. Not as a result of they didn’t care. However as a result of they’ve stopped pretending that something will change. The state has misplaced the plot. The individuals have rewritten it as darkish comedy.
And so, within the aftermath of yet one more tragedy, it wasn’t India that wanted to reply. The loudest condemnation got here from inside Pakistan. Not via op-eds or diplomatic cables, however via memes, tweets, and deadpan jokes. The one factor that also capabilities on time in Pakistan as we speak is the punchline.
They mocked their incapacity to maintain the lights on. Their dependence on bailouts. Their cricketing humiliations. Their rulers. Their uniforms.
It was gallows humour in a gaslit republic.
Albert Camus would’ve known as it freedom—the second you cease asking why and easily push the boulder once more. That’s the Sisyphus Clause.
India, regardless of all its flaws, nonetheless chases Jefferson’s promise of happiness—via development, dissent, and democracy.
Pakistan? It has stopped anticipating something. And in that quiet give up, it has turned its residents into jesters, philosophers, and unwilling realists.
They don’t protest anymore. They don’t revolt. They meme. As a result of in Pakistan, even tragedy comes with load-shedding. And the one factor that ever arrives on time… is the joke.
