“The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history,” is a famous quote by German philosopher Georg Hegel.
In somewhat similar vein, another German philosopher who was contemporary with Hegel – Karl Marx – warned us that “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second time as a farce.”
Though written almost two centuries ago, both these quotes ring equally true in today’s world as well, more so in the case of Pakistan. This country seems almost hell bent on repeating its past mistakes to the detriment of its future.
While ‘Narrative Warfare’ has its place in modern hybrid warfare, and can act as a morale booster despite battlefield losses, it can also create a ‘fog of war,’ so blinding that one literally becomes the victim of its own propaganda, and fails to learn critical lessons, until it’s too late and ‘all is lost.’
It’s tragic enough to repeat this mistake once, but it becomes a farce when one insists on repeating this mistake again and again.
As Karl Marx warned us: “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second time as a farce.” But as Marx’s fellow countryman and a contemporary of his, Hegel warned us that despite the costs of not learning the correct lessons from history, “the only thing we learn from history,” is that “we learn nothing from history.”
German Invincibility And Two Back-To-Back World War Defeats
Ironically enough, the warnings of Marx and Hegel were not heeded even in their own country, Germany.
Germany was convincingly routed in the First World War. However, instead of soul-searching and learning the right lessons, Germany sought to come to terms with its defeat through myth-making.
Now, this myth-making is remembered as the “Stab-in-the-back” myth. In the aftermath of the humiliating 1918 defeat, an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory was promulgated and widely believed by the German masses.
It sought to make sense of the German defeat by propounding that Germany could never be defeated.
According to this theory (and belief system), Germany was defeated not on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by certain citizens on the home front – especially Jews, Communists, and revolutionary socialists.
Further, it claimed that the German race is invincible and can never be defeated on the battlefield. The defeat in the First World War has hurt German pride, and this myth of German invincibility and the “Stab-in-the-back” theory helped a defeated people come to terms with their loss.
The “Stab-in-the-back” theory was an integral part of Nazi propaganda. This myth-making, or constructing alternative facts/history, not only led Germany into another defeat, this time even more devastating and humiliating than the first time, but also created conditions for the worst genocide of our times – the mass killings of Jews, Romanians, Poles and Communists at the hands of Nazis.
However, what is surprising is the sway this myth of German invincibility held over the German masses even until the last days of the Second World War, when both the Eastern and Western fronts had collapsed and the Soviet Red Army was knocking on the doors of Berlin.
Germans failed to see the reality until it was too late, and all was lost. The German homeland was now divided into two halves, East Germany and West Germany.
Myth-Making In Pakistani National Psyche And The 1965 War
The myth of German invincibility had striking parallels in the Pakistani national psyche in the 1960s. Over 800 years of history were narrated in a selective manner to suit a particular agenda.
Missing from this selective history in Pakistan was the reality of India at the eve of British invasion in 18th century when most of the Indian hinterland was under Maratha sway and most of the Pakistani Punjab, Multan, Sindh, and Kashmir, right up till the borders of Tibet in the East and Afghanistan in the West was under the Sikh kingdom.
In the first week of June 1965, a high-ranking Pakistan Army officer wrote an article in the Dawn newspaper recommending that the Pakistani strategy should “obviously be to go for a knock-out in the Mohamed Ali Clay style,” a reference to the American boxer, often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.
British Army historian Brian Cloughley writes in his book – A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections – that an official military directive from that time stated, “as a general rule, Hindu morale would not stand more than a couple of hard blows delivered at the right time and place.”
Wars fought 1000 years ago in West Asia were cited as evidence of an impending Pakistan victory. “Hus ke liya hai Pakistan, ladh ke lenge Hindustan” (We achieved Pakistan, laughing, we will take India fighting) was the war cry in Pakistan.
Believing in their absolute invincibility, Pakistan, like Nazi Germany, became a victim of its own propaganda and launched ‘Operation Gibraltar,’ named for a famous Moorish military victory in Medieval Spain. Pakistani war-fighting units were named after legendary warriors of the Islamic past – Suleiman, Salahuddin, and so on.
As it happened, Pakistani plans came to naught. During the 1965 war, even though Pakistan had the element of surprise, India was able to occupy nearly four times more land than Pakistan.
India was able to occupy 1920 sq miles of Pakistani territory, most of it in the fertile plains of Punjab and the strategic Haji Pir Pass in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). In comparison, Pakistan was able to occupy roughly 540 sq miles of Indian territory, most of it in the barren no-man’s lands of Rajasthan, though Pakistan had the advantage in the Chumb sector.
However, as India agreed to establish the status quo ante after the ceasefire, in Pakistan, the 1965 war was always taught and remembered as a victory. This myth-making was considered essential by the Pakistani defense establishment to maintain the morale of the society.
Though, as Marx had warned, this failure to learn from history led to Pakistan’s catastrophic defeat in the 1971 war, the humiliating surrender of 93,000 soldiers, and the loss of the country’s eastern half, which became a separate country in Bangladesh.
1971 War Amid Plethora Of Pakistani Lies
The importance Pakistan has always placed on winning the narrative war, even at the expense of battlefield victories, is best exemplified by a critical analysis of The Dawn’s front pages during the 13-day 1971 war.
The Dawn is widely regarded as Pakistan’s most respected newspaper internationally.
A critical analysis of these front pages from the newspaper’s war days reveals how the Pakistani people were kept in the dark about the actual battlefield situation until it was too late, and everything was lost.
In fact, reading these articles, any person would have believed that Pakistan was headed for a grand victory over India. These newspaper clippings also reveal Pakistan’s mastery of a hybrid ‘Narrative Warfare’ from an early era.
On December 4, 1971, the Dawn reported that “West Pakistan attacked at 7 points”. Then it says, “It’s Now all-out war.” Further, the newspaper reports that in response to the Indian attack, “PAF bombed 7 Indian airfields including Agra.” It created an impression that India was the aggressor.
However, this was pure fiction as it is well known that it is Pakistan that has attacked India on the Western front on December 3. Inspired by Israel’s success in the 1967 war, Islamabad had tried to launch a pre-emptive strike on Indian air-fields to cripple the Indian Air Force while its jets were still on the ground.
On December 5, 1971, the Dawn reported that Pakistan had downed 49 Indian jets in a single day. This was a highly exaggerated figure. According to later estimates, India lost a total of 45 aircraft during the 13-day war. Later revised figures put the IAF losses at 75 on both the Eastern and Western fronts during the war. The Dawn newspaper also reported that the Pakistan Army has captured many Indian posts.
Also, in response to Pakistani strikes, India had launched a massive attack on the night of December 4 at Karachi port under Operation Trident. The Pakistani ships PNS Shah Jahan, PNS Khaibar, and PNS Muhafiz were destroyed. However, as expected, none of this found space in the Dawn newspaper edition on December 5.
On December 6, 1971, the Dawn reported “Big gains on land, in the air”. It also reported that PAF had shot down 74 IAF jets by December 6, i.e., during the first three days of war. There was no word on PAF losses. The PAF lost 75 aircraft during the war.
By December 7, 1971, Dawn was claiming that PAF had shot down 95 IAF jets, sunk an Indian missile boat, and captured a 15-mile area in Kashmir. However, in reality, by now losses were mounting for Pakistan, and their situation, especially on the eastern front and at sea, was desperate.
By December 8, 1971, Dawn was reporting 104 IAF losses.
On December 9, Dawn reported “Heavy enemy losses.” There was no word on Operation Python, under which Karachi harbor was attacked by the Indian Navy once again.
On December 10, 1971, according to Dawn, there were “Gains in East and West.” This was just 72 hours before 93,000 Pakistani soldiers were to surrender to the Indian Army. There were other fictions, like the report that Russian soldiers were flying Indian planes.
By December 11th, the IAF losses, as per Dawn, had mounted to 120, and there were heavy losses to the Indian Army in the East Wing.
The first signs of distress in Dawn reporting emerged on December 16th, the same day Pakistan Army was to surrender before the Indian Army.
On December 17th, there was no reporting on the Pakistani surrender. In fact, according to Dawn, the PAF was still targeting Indian bases in the West.
On December 18th, two days after Pakistan had surrendered, Dawn reported 141 Indian planes shot down and that General Yahya Khan had ordered a ceasefire.
It was only after the 1971 convincing defeat that Pakistani myths about their invincibility against India were shattered. However, despite that resounding defeat, Pakistan is still repeating the mistakes of 1971 in 2025.
In 2025, Pakistan Is Repeating The 1971 Mistakes
Even now, there is a sense that battlefield setbacks do not matter as long as you can win the Narrative Warfare. There is an apparent tendency to exaggerate the enemy’s losses while hiding your own.
A few IAF jets were indeed lost on the night of May 6. However, as many neutral observers have pointed out, that happened because there were different rules of engagement for the IAF and PAF.
According to this theory, the Rafale was conducting an air-to-ground bombing mission and did not have the escort mission it should have had. It may also have lacked situational awareness, as it was focused on its air-to-ground mission.
The IAF also did not carry out SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defences) and DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defences) missions, as it would have involved direct strikes on Pakistan’s military infrastructure, which India was trying to avoid on the night of May 6.
According to this theory, while the Rafale was cleared for only an air-to-ground bombing mission, Pakistani aircraft were cleared to engage Indian aircraft if they conduct any hostile act.
That is why the PAF was not able to strike a single IAF jet on the night of May 10 when India targeted 11 frontline PAF air bases across the length and breadth of the country, because that particular night, the IAF was cleared to carry SEAD and DEAD missions.
Despite the fact that Pakistan was in a heightened state of alert and despite China’s open support, India was able to hit nine terror camps and 11 frontline PAF air bases, and destroy Pakistani air-defense systems. The Indian strikes on Pakistani air bases and their impact have been validated by the international media.
At the same time, there is no evidence to back Pakistani claims of strikes on Indian air bases.
However, just like the 1971 war and the 1965 war before that, Islamabad is convinced that, notwithstanding battlefield setbacks, it’s a victory for Pakistan as long as it can win the narrative warfare.
Tragically, this refusal to learn from history can set the stage for the next Pakistani battlefield defeat.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
- VIEWS PERSONAL OF THE AUTHOR.
- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
