MEMES AND PERCEPTIONS: THE AFTERMATH OF THE 2019 AIRSTRIKE IN BALAKOT, PAKISTAN”

Abstract

In the past few centuries, thanks to technological advancements, the world has been changing unprecedentedly fast in every way. With cultures and societies emerging as barely recognizable forms of themselves, warfare is no anomaly. Along with lands and resources, modern warfare targets perceptions and thought patterns as well. Memes, as units of cultural reproduction, are a way in which ideas and information are transferred between people, communities, cultures, and generations. They are by definition, replicable, and hence, could be a tool in such warfare. Although memes have existed long before the internet, the internet is an ideal medium for the propagation of this memetic warfare. This has been a subject of interest across the world and it is imperative for Pakistan to catch up. In the contemporary global landscape, it is important for Pakistan’s military strategists and analysts to be familiar with these modern forms of warfare and it is important for them as well as the public to realize the implications of targeted information designed to alter perceptions. This study aimed to lay a foundation of the impact of memes on the Pakistani public’s perceptions and the implications of memetic warfare as a concept in the Pakistani context. In 2019, Indian jets crossed into Pakistani territory for the first time since 1971, conducting an alleged airstrike over Balakot. The study utilized the events following the Balakot Airstrike as a reference and qualitatively studied Pakistani social media users’ views on transnational social media discourse and memes. The study aimed to analyze whether social media was considered a credible source of information and whether or not Pakistanis had realized its potential as a battlefield. The study utilized qualitative methods and collected data through interviews of people from different demographics that used social media to varying extent. It showed that there is some awareness amongst literate Pakistanis about unconventional warfare aimed at eroding national and religious ideologies or spreading misinformation. However, the study concluded that most people do not take memes seriously or think of them as a tool in such warfare. Most do, however, understand that memes, and social media posts in general, have some effect on people’s thinking.