Pakistan's only gain from war with India, a Comical Ali

New Delhi,UPDATED: May 15, 2025 18:49 IST

In 2003, when American coalition forces invaded Iraq, and guns boomed in Baghdad, one person was shooting from the lips. It was Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Information Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, nicknamed the Baghdad Bob or Comical Ali for his outlandish claims. Cut to 2025, General Asim Munir's military in Pakistan might lack the bombs, but not the bufoons. In Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), it has found its very own Comical Ali.

It is only Lt Gen Chaudhry, a Pakistani three-star general, who can match al-Sahhaf in bluffs and outright lies.

But lies in times of war aren't harmless.

If Saddam's cousin, Colonel General Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti, nicknamed Chemical Ali, killed 5,000 Kurds with mustard gas and sarin, Comical Ali got hundreds of Iraqis killed with his lies.

Comical Ali kept repeating that US forces were far off, even when they reached Baghdad, with Iraqi civilians getting caught and killed in the crossfire.

Once, al-Sahhaf told mediapersons the US was airdropping booby-trapped pencils in Iraq, and that citizens had been asked not to touch them. Such was the entertainment that international mediapersons attending his press conferences branded it -- the Al-Sahhaf show.

As the Saddam regime fell, the Al-Sahhaf Show ended, only to emerge two decades later, 3,700km to the east.

The host was Lt Gen Chaudhry, the DG of ISPR, who dished out disinformation with the use of digital tools, something unavailable to al-Sahhaf.

One press conference at a time, Lt Gen Chaudhry, a three-star general, claimed his status as the Comical Ali of Islamabad.

Chaudhry's comedy of terrors was on full display as he used digitally altered clips to spread disinformation during his briefing on Operation Bunyan al-Marsoos on May 11.

Well, comedy is his forte while terror runs in his family. Chaudhry's father, nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, met al-Qaida chief Osama bin Ladenand tried to hand over nuclear weapons technology to terrorists.

Digital sleuths exposed Chaudhry's attempt at cheap thrills, using doctored clips of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, removing mentions that Pakistan targeted Indian civilian areas and that the Indian military neutralised all attacks.

However, Chaudhry matched the OG Comical Ali after he sent Pakistani drones as far as Delhi. Of course, the drones "hovering over Delhi" were only a figment of his imagination.

"All through Operation Bunyanun Marsoos dozens of Pakistani armed drones hovered over major Indian cities and sensitive political and government facilities, including their capital New Delhi," said Chaudhry.

Indians had a field day on social media.

"BREAKING: All Pakistani drones flying over Delhi have been captured by Zomato," tweeted Abhishek Asthana from his popular Gabbar Singh handle.

"Bro if any drones land in East Delhi, they would get stuck in all the faulty wires," wrote another bemused person on X.

All business is serious, and war is the most serious business of all. Lives are at stake and comic relief from a three-star general like Lt Gen Chaudhry is what people expect the least.

"That's why no one takes these jokers seriously!" said Indian Army veteran Major Manik M Jolly (retired) on X.

Pakistani leaders, including Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, have made amusing claims and counter-claims, but none have come close to Chaudhry, the DG of ISPR.

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the OG Comical Ali, vanished into thin air as Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed. Reports said he killed himself. But he surprised the world by appearing on Abu Dhabi TV as a commentator speaking on the trial of his former boss, Saddam.

One of the last lies of al-Sahaf as Saddam's information minister was denying that the US-led coalition troops were even close to Baghdad while news TV cameras caught Iraqi troops fleeing right across the Tigris river.

While al-Sahaf misled his countrymen about the enemy at the gates, Lt Gen Chaudhary sent drones to as far off as Delhi. Though Pakistan has almost nothing to show from its armed conflict with India -- it can hold up its very own Comical Ali as a rare trophy.

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