For years, our neighbour has watched and waited, convinced that Pakistan is a house of cards, ready to collapse at the slightest push. They have listened to our vibrant, often loud, political debates and mistaken the noise of a thriving democracy for the cracking of a nation’s foundations. History, however, keeps telling a different story—a story they refuse to hear. When faced with a true threat, something deep and powerful stirs in the soul of this nation. The many diverse threads of our society weave themselves together into a singular, formidable shield of steel. An expectation of fractures has always been met not with division, but with the unyielding will of a people hardened by decades of challenge.

This reality was never clearer than during the confrontation that will be remembered as our modern-day “Bunyan Um Marsoos”—a name signifying a solid, impenetrable structure. In this moment, India’s grand strategy, built entirely on the fantasy of our internal collapse, shattered against the wall of our unity. They banked on our political disagreements and social fissures to do their work for them. Instead, they faced something they never anticipated: a nation........

© Daily Pakistan