Exposing MEMRI: A Propaganda Tool Undermining Pakistan’s Sovereignty
A Dangerous Nexus Against Pakistan’s Sovereignty
Exposing MEMRI’s Propaganda Alignment
Pakistan’s is fighting against terrorism and subversive armed gangs like the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) with pure conviction and legitimate aims. The battle is not only on mountains and in cities but also on a much bigger battlefield. This larger battlefield is digital. It takes the form of digital propaganda. The law enforcement agencies of Pakistan have bled delivering peace to Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan, but foreign powers continue to interfere in internal Pakistani policy, laundering the dichotomous issue of terrorism under the guise of so-called human rights and regional studies.
On August 1, 2025, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) proved once again where their ideological allegiances really lie. In fact, these are not in the exposure of extremism as they purport rather it is the replication and amplification of the propaganda of a designated terrorist organization proscribed under Pakistani law, the BLF. The lengthy history of bombings, assassinations, and attacks against civilians of this group is self-explanatory. And MEMRI decided to provide it with a venue and opened its story in the garb of credible analysis.
The issue is, what in the world should an ostensibly Middle East-oriented think tank have in repeating the talking points of a Baloch separatist militia? It is not out of scholarly inquisitiveness that the answer is sought but within the geopolitical agendas.
MEMRI Lacks Legitimacy
MEMRI has boasted of translating and analyzing Middle East material for years. However, in other parts of the world, scholars, newspaper editors, and pundits have time after time challenged its bias and opaqueness. The founder, Yigal Carmon, comes out as a former Mossad officer something that has always been in the minds of critics of MEMRI in evaluating the intention of the latter as a mere Israeli strategic propaganda mouthpiece rather than an objective research center.
The hypocrisy is there to see. Could MEMRI ever print sympathetic interviews with Hamas leaders or bring into the limelight the atrocities committed by India in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir with the same uncritical disdain the BLF is being given? It is obvious what the answer is. MEMRI has highly political editorial decisions that are not necessitated by general principles of the rights of people or objectivity but by selective indignation that fits well into geopolitical interests.
Giving legitimacy to the voices of the BLF, MEMRI destroys the pretense of neutrality. It makes a reckless statement: It is okay to condemn terrorism if there is a good strategic use to it.
Subversive of Counterterrorism in Pakistan
Pakistan has been struggling against decades of terrorist violence with colossal budgetary allocation and loss of thousands of lives to stabilize its western backyard and to tame Balochistan. Organizations such as BLA and the BLF have enjoyed the support of foreign actors since long, living on misinformation, digital propaganda, and illegal sources of funding.
The new publication of MEMRI has already blended away significant difference between peaceful opposition, and militant violence. Using the framing of the BLF, it not only acts against the counterterrorism policy of Pakistan but also demoralizes the same forces who protect the civilians. This is not some innocuous “analysis”; this is the administration of antagonistic discourses into the global information arena.
Now, allow me to come out and say it. Research aims to find out the truth. Propaganda aims to distort it. The August 1 report made by MEMRI very clearly fits into the latter.
Pattern in RAW Digital Footprint: Familiarity
Over the years, Pakistan has fronted the international community with hard evidence on how India sponsors and instigates separatist violence in Balochistan; this has been done in the form of UN briefings and dossiers made available to the public, and even intelligence disclosures. The arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the serving naval officer in the Indian forces who was spotted working in Pakistan, was not the only case. Indian soil has been traced as the source of both disinformation networks as well as funding overseen by cyber-forensics.
Neither are such findings hypothetical; rather, they constitute a recorded history of hybrid warfare engaged in by India, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). In that regard, it is hardly a coincidence that MEMRI recently fell into line with the accounts provided by BLF. There is also the promotion of fake digital personas like “Mir Yar Baloch” and the spreading of separatist rhetoric that MEMRI is emulating the same strategies of messaging originally based in the psychological operations guide of RAW.
The Indo-Israel nexus in hybrid war far exceeds selling of weapons and spy craft. The virtual battlefield is as definite as well, and possibly more pernicious. It influences ideas, destroys trust in state authorities and generates the global noise that malevolent actors employ to hide their proxies.
Unity and Determination of Pakistan
Another thing that MEMRI and its partners fail to correctly assess is the resilience of Pakistani people. Within Balochistan alone there are unfathomable numbers of voices opposed to the separatist violent agenda. The issue is the fact that the vast majority of Baloch citizens do not want the chaos of civil war supported by foreign money, they want peace, economic opportunity, and infrastructure.
Moreover, the civil and military leadership of Pakistan is unwavering in its resolve to adhere to the constitutional rights of its citizens and take decisive action against those, be it home-grown or external forces, who would attempt to weaken its sovereignty. Our solidarity is not a loose conglomeration which can be dissolved by a couple of reports by prejudiced research institutions. Furthermore, there have been previous failed attempts at demoralizing us and without a doubt this will be one too.
An Accountability Call
MEMRI is not only unethical; its activities are dangerous in legitimizing the practices of the dissemination of terrorist propaganda. In conducting itself as a channel through which narratives meant to undermine Pakistan are propagated, it becomes a proactive part of an overall destabilization agenda. It is no longer an argument about methodology that can only be settled in the academic field, it is a question of international peace or insecurity.
To address the issue of MEMRI, Pakistan needs to appeal to international media regulators, credible academic institutions and independent watchdogs to examine what MEMRI produces and who it partners with. Such platforms that insist on research neutrality should also be accountable as they venture into the realms of political subversion.
The Wider Implication is Obvious
Narrative warfare is as real and impactful as any military conflict. Information weaponization can compromise the sovereignty of a country the same as an invasion.
Pakistan Will Not Be Silenced
Pakistan has made a clear message to MEMRI and its patrons, whether in Tel Aviv, New Delhi or elsewhere, that it is not destabilized, delegitimized, or silenced by propaganda; no intelligent disguise can make it work. Our defense does not lie in our borders; it lies in our saying no to allowing foreign actors to dictate to us the truth of what we are doing.
Originally published on August 1 by MEMRI, this is a case study in the use of think tanks as a hybrid warfare tool. It is a reminder that in the age of information, we have to be our own lines of defense.
Pakistan is determined, keeping guard over its integrity, glory, and fallen heroes against aggression disguised as analysis. We know the difference between research and propaganda. As to MEMRI’s latest publication, we all know where it belongs.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively those of the author and do not reflect the official stance, policies, or perspectives of the Platform.
