India may or may not be bracing for war at the border, but it’s already deep into one online. And the latest to fall isn’t a soldier, but a statesman.
A day after Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri announced the ceasefire following India’s missile retaliation against Pakistan for the Pahalgam terror attacks, his X account went private.
Not because of national security concerns. But because a faceless army of trolls had decided he was the enemy.
They came for his credibility. Then for his daughter.
What began as dissatisfaction over a diplomatic move escalated into character assassination. Misri, a career diplomat, found himself accused of “surrendering” to international pressure.
When the ceasefire fell apart within hours and Pakistan violated the agreement, the anger online turned vindictive. Memes, slurs and abuse targeted at the man reading out the government’s decisions, not the men making them.
What is more saddening is that it wasn’t just him alone. His daughter’s phone number was leaked. Her profession was questioned. Her integrity was doubted. One user demanded to know how her career fit into India’s “national interest”. Another called for her “exposure”. A third mined her social media, looking for ammunition.
To many, this would be another laugh-over-tea moment in India’s vitriol filled online culture. After all, this is the same social media that spammed Philips India because a New Zealand cricketer named Glenn Phillips took a catch to dismiss Virat Kohli.
The scapegoat of foreign policy
Misri has been the public face of India’s measured yet firm diplomatic posture during the latest flare-up with Pakistan. On May 7, he briefed media after India struck nine terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, describing the strikes as "measured, non-escalatory and proportionate". He rebutted Pakistan's propaganda — from claims of shooting down Indian jets to bizarre accusations that India targeted a hydroelectric dam.
But when the ceasefire was announced on May 10, and promptly violated by Pakistan, Misri’s credibility was questioned. Right-wing leaders blamed him for “premature diplomacy”. Never mind that foreign secretaries implement, not design, such policies. Misri, a non-political appointee, became the lightning rod for a storm of nationalist rage.
Observers noted the pattern. First came the trolling of Himanshi Narwal, the widow and survivor of the Pahalgam attack that killed Navy officer Vinay Narwal. When she asked for justice without hate, saying, “We don’t want hatred for anyone. We want peace. But we want justice too,” trolls mocked her makeup, as if wearing lipstick invalidated her grief.
Now, it is Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s turn. What began as legitimate questions over a ceasefire has spiralled into a witch hunt, with Misri, who had called out Pakistan’s duplicity, being vilified online for being too diplomatic. The internet, it seems, has no time for nuance.
The diplomat who tried to explain India’s actions now finds his daughter explaining hers. The widow who asked for peace now finds herself defending her grief.
What began with terrorists crossing borders has turned into citizens crossing lines.
And no one, not even the nation's top diplomat, is safe.
