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The Butcher and the Ballot

22 0
21.05.2025

Irtaza Abbas Turi was seven years old. He had no knowledge of geopolitics, no stake in borders, no understanding of the hate that precedes a missile. He carried no weapon. He posed no threat. Yet his body was claimed by an airstrike, transformed into a symbol, proof in a conflict crafted for spectacle. That's the logic of manufactured war: when truth is inconvenient, terror becomes a tool. And children like Irtaza become collateral.

No evidence linked Pakistan to the Pahalgam incident. No investigation, no verification, only accusation, then escalation. The strike followed like clockwork. And from behind the smoke rose a familiar figure, haunting South Asia for over two decades. The Butcher of Gujarat, once again at the helm, exploiting tragedy for spectacle.

Understanding Narendra Modi's India means confronting a worldview where violence is theatre and war a tool of narrative. Strikes are staged, enemies constructed, and deaths turned into spectacle. In this landscape, restraint signals weakness; cruelty performs........

© The Express Tribune