FOCUS
The recent attempt of PM Imran Khan trying to portray himself as a
poster boy for Muslims and Kashmiris must be rebutted with his continued
silence over atrocities in Baluchistan and Xinjiang internationally to
expose human right record of both adversaries.
with YouTube links having operators stationed globally. Fake
videos of atrocities on people picked up from any global
incidents are being played up as current situation in Kashmir,
which are getting identifi ed to be of diff erent incidents
globally on investigations. Pakistan has also infl uenced some
international news agencies, which carried fake news on their
behalf, as sensational news for commercial interests.
Combating Information Warfare of Pakistan
Information war by an adversary cannot be taken lightly
and needs to be combated professionally. One of the best
methods of combating it is to fl ood the global environment
with hard facts countering fake news and propaganda. India
had anticipated the security challenges arising out of such
decision and has done its best to quarantine the potential
problem creators and fl ash spots with tight restrictions.
Kashmir valley has been quite peaceful as never before in
last so many years after India strengthened the security force
level in the terrorist threat prone areas, and restricted use of
mobile and internet there to ensure the safety of citizens.
India’s priority is to save the lives of innocent people; hence it
is carefully lifting restrictions in a graduated manner, resulting
in a delay in risky areas causing some inconvenience to some
people there. With Pakistan openly trying everything possible
to re-ignite Kashmir valley through its terrorists, Indian
administrators and security forces/agencies will have to strike
a fi ne balance between relaxing restrictions or continuing
it to save lives, on daily basis, with an option to re-clamp
some restrictions, if problem creators manage to pose threat
to prevailing peace.
The criticism against restrictions by those who abused
power under Article 370, interested groups/political
opportunists/activists is natural, but if it can save lives of
innocent people then it can be endured, as loss of lives will
also invite criticism, which will be the worst case. In IW,
the propaganda campaign has to be based on partial truths
to succeed; hence Pakistan has cleverly picked up some
internal criticism in India, which is routine to any matured
democracy like India, and mixed it with fake information
of atrocities, backed by fake videos to base its propaganda
campaigns. It needs to be understood by all making public
utterances in India that any divergence from the mandated
decision will be picked up by adversary and twisted to launch
fake propaganda; hence there is a need to exercise caution to
combat Pakistan’s IW.
Propaganda has to be confronted with truth by organised
IW apparatus. All forms of Indian media need to call the
bluff of an adversary by exposing fake news. Rebuttals to
wrong news by paid/motivated authors globally, need to be
given rebuttals in the form of facts by all Indian authors.
Every Indian using social media is an information worrier
of India; hence every fake news he/she comes across must
cease circulation or marked fake. Awareness campaign needs
to be planned for the population, especially people from
Kashmir. The recent attempt of PM Imran Khan trying to
portray himself as a poster boy for Muslims and Kashmiris
must be rebutted with his continued silence over atrocities
in Baluchistan and Xinjiang internationally to expose human
right record of both adversaries. Indian secular fabric is
strong not to fall prey to religious fundamentalism, but
counter-propaganda speeches in various forums may well
be the need of the hour to quarantine the thought process
of innocents from radicalised sleeper cells. The education
system in madrasas in Kashmir will need monitoring to
check anti-national agenda of terrorists. Besides IW, India
needs to ready for next round of hybrid war, because the
terrorists and sleeper cells will be active again, whenever
the restrictions are lifted and a temporary dogfi ght period
is likely till the situation is controlled again. These actions
need to be backed by inclusive growth plan rolled out
simultaneously so that people of Kashmir can visualise their
bright future in comparison to the life of people in POK and
Gilgit-Baltistan.
(The views expressed are personal views of the author,
who retains the copyright).
*Author is a veteran Infantry General with 40 years’
experience in national & international fi elds and UN. A
globally acknowledged strategic & military writer/analyst
authored over 250 publications. Interviewed by various
National and International news channels/newspapers/
organisations. Currently Chief Instructor, USI of India,
the oldest Indian Think-tank in India. Member Board/
Governing Council CEE, IOED, IPC, ITVMNN and other
UN Organisations. Former Additional DG Infantry.
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 9 • September 2019, Noida • 49