Pakistan’s repugnant anti-India propaganda bites dust

Pakistan’s anti-India lamentations since August 2019 knew no bounds. Without any exception, they raised the Kashmir issue at every feasible multilateral forum. Sharp, scathing and evidence based-rebuttals from the Indian diplomatic corps failed to deter their attempts to rake up Kashmir issue. Despite the consistent support from Beijing at the international forums, Pakistan’s anti-India narrative failed to make much waves.

With the legislation of CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) into an act in December, Pakistan has sharpened its attack and recruited pliable Leftist-Islamist media agencies to tarnish India’s image. Despite the refrains from the OIC, Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation, the largest conglomeration of the Islamic nations across the World and the second largest forum after the UN, Pakistan showed no signs of backing off.

Distraught by OIC’s restrained criticism over revocation of special status. Failing to garner a unanimous support from the OIC, Pakistan steadily shifted its loyalties to Turkey, keen on dominating the Saudi-UAE leadership of Muslim world. Having successfully steered a secular constitution into an Islamic fold Erdogan extended support to Pakistan. Unveiling a new Islamic axis, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran lambasted India for abrogating article 370 at the UN.

Consolidating the Islamic brotherhood, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed organised Kuala Lumpur Summit offering an alternative leadership to Muslim countries. While Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan cancelled his participation at the eleventh hour after being summoned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the summit attended by leaders from Turkey, Iran and Qatar mirrored the fissures in the Islamic World and aspirations of claimants of leadership mantle.

India’s resolute determination to go ahead with CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), further irked Pakistan. Co-opting the media and Islamists, Pakistan launched a propaganda labelling CAA as discriminatory and orchestrating fake discourse of an impending threat to citizenship of Indian Muslims. Actively funding and aiding the anti-CAA sympathisers, protestors and Islamist agencies, Pakistan relentlessly pursued to tarnish India’s reputation. The Protests and sit-outs in major metropolitan cities in the aftermath of the CAA have been the handiwork of Pakistan deep state which plotted to create a massive unrest in the country. While India deftly handled the situation and contained the flareups in sensitive areas, the protests, which turned violent in the wake of President Trump’s visit to India eventually snowballed into riots in the capital region.

Investigation agencies are close to cracking Pakistan’s role in Delhi riots. Accusing the Indian administration of Islamophobia and terming the Delhi riots as a “genocide” Pakistan endeavoured to foment anti-India sentiments especially among the Islamic nations. Through a sustained media blitzkrieg Pakistan began a focussed campaign to alienate Muslims in India from the mainstream.

Pakistani state media launched a sustained propaganda projecting India as a state which marginalises minorities. It hasn’t spared any attempts to use India’s fight against Covid and instigated Tablighis to violate the social distancing norms. At the behest of Pakistan, the independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of OIC accused India for, “unrelenting vicious #Islamophobic campaign in #India maligning Muslims for spread of #COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination and violence with impunity”.

In the meanwhile, owing to partial lifting of internet lockdown in the Kashmir valley, Pakistan heightened its anti-India missive to sow dissent. Doubling up its campaign, Pakistan recruited bots that assumed the names of the Arab Royal family and retweeted the Islamophobic tweets to lend authenticity to its claims. While Pakistan’s fake information war was busted after an Omani Royal took to twitter distancing herself from the Islamophobic tweets, Pakistan still persisted with its disinformation campaign.

Pakistan diaspora has been an integral part of anti-India campaign. Islamabad has been using Islamist friendly political parties to advance its agenda. It is no secret that disenchantment of the Indian diaspora in the UK towards the Labour party led to a sweeping victory of the conservatives. Labour party in the UK which has become front for Islamists and the party had towed Pakistani position on Kashmir.

Having suffered a massive electoral drubbing perhaps, Labour leader Keir Stramer recently announced that Kashmir dispute is a “bilateral issue”. Soon, over 100 mosques and Islamic centres signed a letter retracting support from the labour party for supporting Indian government’s position on Kashmir. Alleging that Indian government has been indulging in anti-Muslim rhetoric and failing to protect Indian Muslims, Islamists warned Labour party to change its stance ¹. By packaging misinformation, Pakistan steadily fostered its disinformation campaign.

Towards the end of April, Pakistani trolls recruited by ISI, pretending as Arabs on the social media began to spew venom against India and planned to evict Hindus employed in the Gulf nations on the pretext of slandering Muslims. Pakistan intended to drive a wedge between the Gulf Nations and India. Millions of Indians have gainful employment in the Arab nations and Pakistan is making attempts to turn Arab nations against India and snap ties. This master stroke besides, affecting the Arab investments in India would halt the remittance flows.

Pakistan’s fake information campaign roped in Indian Islamists and journalists to unleash a tide of orchestrated Islamophobia on social media. Pakistanis urged UAE to boycott India. Reports of intervention by Indian envoys in Arab nations issuing clarifications stoked fears of a retributory reaction from the Gulf nations. Even strategic experts warned of serious ramifications amidst Pakistan’s attempts to reap a litany of Islamophobia charges against India. To ratchet anti-India campaign, Pakistan sent a four-page note to OIC countries stating that BJP came of power on main agenda of “hatred for Muslims” ².

Days after shooting an Islamophobia resolution against India to OIC members, Pakistan got ensnared by Libyan issue. Turkey and the UAE are on the opposite sides of Libyan crisis. Pakistanis enamoured by the Turkey’s highly popular TV show Ertugrul, that depicted a Turkish caliphate and showed Pakistan in positive light did the magic, they vowed to back Turkey on Libyan issue. Soon Pakistanis started trending #boycottUAE on twitter and nostalgically reminisced to be part of Greater Turkey.

Given, Pakistan’s uncanny ease in shifting loyalties, netizens gave reality check to Pakistanis who continue to receive generous funds from the UAE. By shifting stances from urging UAE to boycott India to boycott UAE in barely three weeks Pakistan put chameleon to shame. Alluding to strong India-UAE relations and the UAE’s growing support to India, Pakistani trolls claimed UAE also played a vital role in genocides of Muslims in India ².

At the virtual meeting of OIC foreign ministers, Pakistan’s UN ambassador Munir Akram alleged that India actively pursued Islamophobia agenda. But the Maldives defended India’s position and strongly contradicted Pakistan’s charges claiming that India is a democracy and home to 200 million Muslims.

Maldivian Envoy Thilmeeza Hussain added, “Targeting a specific country will be like side-setting the real issue. Isolated statements by motivated people and disinformation campaign on the social media shouldn’t be construed as representative of feelings of 1.3 billion people..It would be detrimental to religious harmony of South Asia region”. She said, India has developed strong relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Afghanistan, Palestine and Mauritius which conferred highest civilian awards to Prime Minister Modi³. Maldives knock-out punch took the fizzle out of Pakistan’s dubious allegations.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE backed Maldives stance. While Oman stated that Kashmir is an internal issue of India. Several OIC countries are reported to have not responded to Pakistan’s initiative. Pakistan intended to form a “small informal working group” to take a collective action against India at the UN in the wake of rising incidents of Islamophobia ⁴. UAE which headed the conference indicated that a group can be constituted only with the approval of all foreign ministers of OIC. With countries backing out, Pakistan’s plan to castigate India were effectively watered down. Turkey backed Pakistan, Malaysia which rebuked India initially has softened its stance now.

While disinformation campaign of Pakistan has taken the social media by storm, its dismal credibility has hardly few takers in the real (diplomatic) world. Through its relentless insidious campaign which is replete of lies, conceit and deception, Pakistan is eroding its credibility. Islamabad has to blame itself for its sinking reputation.

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