Marka-e-Haq Day: Pakistan’s 2025 Conflict Anniversary Explained

The chain of events began on 22 April 2025, when five armed terrorists attacked tourists in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. The attack killed 26 civilians — 25 Indian nationals (predominantly Hindu male tourists) and one Nepali citizen — making it the deadliest civilian terror attack on Indian soil in nearly two decades. Eyewitness accounts described attackers segregating victims by religious identity before opening fire.

The Resistance Front (TRF), described by Indian authorities as an offshoot of the UN-designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), initially claimed responsibility but later denied it. India maintained cross-border linkages to Pakistan were established. Pakistan denied involvement and called the attack a “false flag operation,” offering to cooperate with an impartial international investigation — an offer India did not accept.

In the early hours of 7 May 2025 (commencing at approximately 1:44 AM IST), India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ — a coordinated tri-services operation involving the Army, Navy, and Air Force. India struck nine terror infrastructure sites inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), targeting facilities belonging to three designated terrorist organisations:

• Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM): Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur (JeM headquarters), and camps in Kotli and Muzaffarabad
• Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT): Markaz Taiba in Muridke (LeT headquarters), and camps in Barnala and Muzaffarabad
• Hizbul Mujahideen: Facilities in Kotli and Sialkot

India characterised the strikes as “focused, measured and non-escalatory,” stating no Pakistani military or civilian facilities were targeted. Indian government claims indicated over 100 terrorists were killed. The strikes were described as India’s most extensive military action targeting Pakistan’s mainland since the 1971 war — the first joint tri-services coordinated cross-border strike in over five decades.

Following India’s 7 May strikes, Pakistan launched drone and missile strikes on Indian military installations in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab (Pathankot, Amritsar), Rajasthan (Jaisalmer), and Gujarat (Kutch) — marking a multi-front engagement. India claimed the vast majority of Pakistani drones and missiles were intercepted. A drone strike in Ferozepur, Punjab injured three civilians.

India escalated Operation Sindoor on subsequent days to target Pakistani air defence systems in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi, as well as military-linked facilities in Sialkot, Chaklala, and Murid — a qualitative shift from counter-terror to degrading Pakistan’s military capacity. The Indian Navy repositioned its Western Fleet, including an aircraft carrier, in the northern Arabian Sea reportedly within operational range of Karachi.

On 10 May 2025, Pakistan formally launched ‘Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos’ — targeting several Indian military bases including Pathankot airfield. The name is an Arabic phrase derived from the Quran meaning “Unbreakable Wall.”

A ceasefire was agreed on 10 May 2025 at 5:00 PM IST, following DGMO-level talks. US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire on social media, claiming American mediation. India maintained it accepted the ceasefire from a position of strength. The conflict is sometimes called the “88-Hour War” by independent analysts. It marked the first drone conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations.

Pakistan’s official commemoration on 10 May 2026 at the Pakistan Monument was a high-profile assertion of its domestic narrative. Key attendees included:

• President Asif Ali Zardari
• PM Shehbaz Sharif (declared Marka-e-Haq Day)
• Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir — Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff (elevated in rank after the conflict)
• Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu (Chief of Air Staff)
• Admiral Naveed Ashraf (Chief of Naval Staff)
• Chairman Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, federal ministers, and foreign diplomats

Sharif praised Field Marshal Asim Munir’s “wise and courageous leadership” and lauded the Pakistan Air Force’s “Shaheens” (falcons) for negating Indian claims of aerial superiority. He also thanked US President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for diplomatic support. China was cited among “brotherly and friendly” nations that backed Pakistan.

India’s framing of the same events differs fundamentally from Pakistan’s. From New Delhi’s perspective:

• Operation Sindoor was a precisely calibrated counter-terror operation targeting only terrorist infrastructure
• The ceasefire was accepted from a position of strength after achieving military objectives
• The conflict established a new strategic doctrine: cross-border terrorism will be met with direct military action, and India will no longer treat the nuclear threshold as a constraint on conventional retaliation

Indian officials stated the operation introduced a “new red line”: if terrorism is state policy, it will be met with a visible, forceful response. The strikes on Bahawalpur — in Pakistan’s Punjab heartland, previously considered beyond India’s conventional military reach — were cited as evidence of a transformed strategic posture.

Strategic analysts note that the conflict has produced a more volatile South Asian security environment, with both sides seemingly more comfortable with calibrated military escalation — raising concerns about the risk of miscalculation in any future crisis.

Pakistan Monument (Islamabad): A national monument representing Pakistan’s four provinces and three territories. Major venue for state ceremonies — symbolically significant for national events.

Indus Waters Treaty (1960): A water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan brokered by the World Bank, governing distribution of the six rivers of the Indus basin. India’s suspension of the treaty post-Pahalgam was among the most significant diplomatic actions — the treaty had survived multiple India-Pakistan conflicts since 1960.

Shimla Agreement (1972): A bilateral treaty signed after the 1971 war, committing India and Pakistan to resolve disputes peacefully and bilaterally. Pakistan’s suspension in April 2025 marked a historic diplomatic rupture.

Bunyan-un-Marsoos: Arabic phrase from the Quran (Surah As-Saff, 61:4) meaning “Unbreakable Wall” — chosen by Pakistan for its counter-operation to project collective resolve and divine backing.

DGMO Talks: Director General of Military Operations — the military officers responsible for operational planning and ceasefire negotiations between the two armies. DGMO-level hotlines are the standard channel for India-Pakistan military communication during crises.