Floods have caused immense destruction in India and Pakistan during this year’s monsoon. While authorities in India have swiftly moved into action to combat nature’s wrath, in Pakistan they are struggling after years of negligence towards building adequate safety mechanisms. Pakistan is now using the flooding of Kartarpur Sahib to deflect the blame on India.
The floods have submerged the Kartarpur Sahib, the holy Sikh Gurudwara in the Pakistan Punjab’s Narowal District. Kartarpur Sahib was submerged under as much as 10 to 12 feet of water. Authorities since then have drained the water out of the Guruwara Complex.
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Ramesh Singh Arora is the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) President and Punjab (Pakistan) Minister for Minority Affairs. A prominent Pakistani news channel interviewed him, the video of which is available on YouTube. During the interview, Arora blamed India for the floods, citing the abrogation of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
Pakistan is using their Sikh Community to blame India for the floods in their country.
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) August 29, 2025
Kartarpur Sahib has been flooded by the rains and they are blaming India for it.
A very dangerous game is underway. pic.twitter.com/IvsAT1dZ1p
Arora accused the Indian Government of releasing 250,000 cusecs of water into the Ravi without following IWT protocols. According to him, it was a failed attempt hurt Sikh sentiments. The Punjab (Pakistan) Minister also praised the Pakistani authorities for their prompt response.
In reality, India has sent several flood alerts to Pakistan amidst the crisis. Pakistani officials have also freely admitted to this fact. Floods in India severely damaged the Madhopur Barrage on the Ravi. According to Indian Govt sources, the torrential rains damaged two gates. It was this damage that caused an uncontrolled flows of water into Pakistan.
Forged Document on Kartarpur Sahib to mislead Sikhs about India
At the same time, various Pakistani social media accounts circulated a forged document online, claiming that Indian authorities were planning to flood the Kartarpur Sahib. Top Indian Intelligence sources have debunked these claims, pointing out the numerous spelling and typographic errors in the document.
They said that the forged document was part of Pakistani propaganda efforts to malign India’s image. They also said that it was part of Pakistani strategy to create distrust against India among the Sikh community.
The Indian Intelligence sources revealed that Pakistan has often used such ‘documents’ to spread misinformation among the Sikh Diaspora. Earlier ‘leaks’ were designed to portray India as hostile to Sikhs as well. They say it is part of Pakistan’s psychological warfare against India.
Pakistan blames India for the widespread devastation
Top Pakistani English newspaper ‘Dawn’ published an editorial on the 29th of August, blaming India for the devastation. The editorial accused India of ‘Weaponising Water’.
The editorial said, “As the raging floodwaters make their way through Punjab towards Sindh, the nation must confront the fact that other than heavy monsoon rainfall and climate change, India’s apparent weaponisation of water has also played a part in the devastation.”
It said that “human malfeasance” on the part of Indian authorities have “compounded the disaster for Pakistan.” The editorial failed to mention that Pakistan had suffered devastating floods in 2022 as well, when IWT was operational. The monsoon rains had killed more than 1700 people then. Instead of investing in protective measures, Pakistan has contented itself by blaming India and Climate Change.
Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said, “We could have managed better if we had better information. If the Indus Waters Treaty was in operation, we could have mitigated the impact.” The IWT was operational in 2022. But Pakistani authorities did not manage floods better then.
