Burhan Wani’s value for his Pakistani masters was not his skills as a so-called Mujahid; it was his ability to attract more and more Kashmiri youth into the fold of terrorism and for this, he was used to the hilt. This exposure triggered a manhunt which led to his killing by the security forces in July 2016. His death led to another spate of vitriolic and propagandist social media content.
Many Kashmiri youths joined in as terrorists simply to post their selfies, pictures and online videos on social media, giving a huge boost to the recruitment of locals into the terrorist fold.
The ISI and Pakistani propaganda machinery fully understood the bonanza that had fallen in its laps and exploited it to the hilt. Sophisticated content was generated and continues to be generated to radicalise the vulnerable boys, create a false sense of bravado and a certain romanticism for the gun. Anti-India activities and terrorism are made to appear legitimate even as the potential recruits are projected as the victims of the Indian state and saviours of Kashmir.
Unfortunately, a segment of the youth, however small, falls for this perversity without realising the self-destructive consequences. Some take to stone pelting which is also an activity given due cognisance in the propaganda content.
For the obnoxious activity of stone pelting, crowds are collected at designated areas and made to melt out with equal alacrity with exit routes being posted online.
Kashmiri Separatist leaders use social media extensively to give their illegal calls for Bandhs (lockouts), Hartals (strikes) and marches etc. Threats to the people to discourage them from voting in elections or from attending recruitment rallies of security forces and other such progressive activities are posted on social media.
The spread of fake news is yet another area where social media is being used extensively. With no accountability, it becomes the most apt platform to raise passions with exaggerated reports. The basic objective is to create a sense of insecurity and mistrust against the Indian state and the people of the country in the minds of the Kashmiris’.
FaceBook has been censoring posts and user accounts, but when one profile is shut many others come up. Attempts are being made by Indian agencies to curb such activities, some are successful and for others, alternatives are found by the enemy. The government blocked the internet in Kashmir for five months in 2016 but the people including the terror groups and even government employees resorted to the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to overcome the restriction.
Modern technology tools are double-edged weapons! Social media and the attendant technology is being used by security forces to track down the terrorists. This along with human intelligence (which is a predominant factor), is responsible for the conduct of incisive information based counter-terrorist operations that are being conducted by security forces with great success.
Social media is also being used by terrorists for their personal vendettas with each other and the attendant friction tends to weaken their movement.
Zakir Musa, a terrorist who followed the Islamic State ideology used social media to threaten to behead of the separatists if they did not desist from speaking of a secular freedom movement. Musa was later eliminated by the security forces but the fissures in the organisation were there for all to see. It is for this reason some terrorist commanders in recent times have been passing diktats to their cadre to desist from the use of smartphones.
The space occupied by the perpetrators of propaganda has to be neutralised by the creation of an equally potent nationalist space. The government will need to come up with credible responses in this direction. Curbing social media is neither feasible nor productive as a countermeasure. What is required is the creation of awareness among the people to not get swayed by the content that is posted with evil anti-India intent by the enemy.
Photo Courtesy – TRT World / HT / Indian Express