Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, has ignited widespread ridicule and disbelief after claiming in the national assembly that Pakistani "cyber warriors" were responsible for shutting off the floodlights during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in India.

Asif's statement, made in Parliament, asserted that these alleged cyberattacks were part of a broader campaign targeting Indian infrastructure, including gaining access to dam control systems and disrupting the national electricity grid.

The minister appeared to be referencing the May 8, 2025 IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamshala, which was abandoned midway due to a power outage. Official reports from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) attributed the incident to a technical failure in the local electrical grid, not to any form of cyberattack or external interference.

Despite this, Asif claimed, "Our cyber warriors launched attacks on India, shut off lights in a cricket stadium in India – lights went out and the IPL match was stopped, water was released from Indian dams, their electricity grid was shut down".

His remarks followed India's Operation Sindoor, a targeted military response to terror attacks in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, which had heightened tensions between the two countries. Asif's claims, however, were made without any supporting evidence and were widely dismissed as baseless both by Indian officials and the public.

Social media users and commentators quickly seized on the implausibility of the statement. Many pointed out the technical absurdity of hacking stadium floodlights, which are operated via secure electrical systems not susceptible to remote cyber manipulation in the manner described by Asif.

The episode became a source of online mockery, with users suggesting that if switching off lights was a cyber triumph, then even a child unplugging a device could be considered a "global threat". Others noted the irony of a country plagued by frequent power shortages claiming to have the capability to disrupt another nation's power infrastructure.

This is not the first time Khawaja Asif has made controversial or unsubstantiated claims in public forums. In a previous incident, when asked for evidence regarding Pakistan's alleged downing of Indian fighter jets, Asif could only refer to content circulating on social media, failing to provide any concrete proof.

Khawaja Asif's assertion that Pakistani cyber operatives were responsible for the IPL floodlight outage has been widely debunked, ridiculed, and dismissed as a fabrication. The actual cause of the IPL match disruption was a technical failure, and there is no credible evidence supporting the claim of a cyberattack. The incident has further fuelled scepticism about the credibility of official statements from Pakistan's leadership, especially on matters of national security and technological prowess.

Agencies