Nilesh Kunwar
Pakistan’s Social Media Kashmir Blitz
It’s no secret that Pakistan relies heavily on indiscriminate use of social media to not only peddle its pathetic Kashmir narrative but also beguile local youth into picking up guns for waging Rawalpindi’s proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir [J&K]. What’s rather surprising is that New Delhi seldom draws attention of the international community to this concerted disinformation campaign being masterminded by Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI].
One of India’s leading English daily recently carried an illuminating article on this subject, in which it’s mentioned that when compared with the same period last year, the more than 2,000 ‘posts of concern’ flagged during October-November, translates into more than a 22 percentage increase. Quoting “a senior officer in the central security establishment,” the report mentions that there was a concerted effort by Pakistan to use social media to “influence and exploit” impressionable minds and radicalise them for anti-national activities.
This is indeed very disturbing news.
The newspaper report ibid merits deliberation for two reasons. Firstly, inclusion of factual data collated by security and intelligence agencies not only adds authenticity to the piece but also reveals the enormity of Pakistan’s sinister psychological warfare programme. Secondly, whereas the specific information provided has definitely been shared by those in the know with the author, the sources haven’t been named, which indicates that the powers-that-be are for reasons unknown, reluctant to make an official disclosure on this serious issue.
Though allowing Islamabad to get away with its falsehood on Kashmir appears inexplicable, New Delhi certainly must be having good reasons for its reticence on this issue. For one, trying to rebut patently absurd claims and untenable contentions doesn’t make good diplomatic sense and only gives the balderdash an additional lease of life. Two, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has a proclivity of shooting itself in the foot and as such giving it a long rope by keeping silent is in itself a good strategy.
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