“Repeat a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth”.
– Nazi Joseph Goebbels.
This quote by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, is the core of Pakistan’s information warfare. After getting hammered by India in multiple battles, Pakistan understands that it simply can’t defeat India. So it formulated another tactic to harm India; that is, if you can’t defeat them, then defame them. This is done by following the principles of “Goebbelsian propaganda,” which states, “Keep up the lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.” As an ardent follower, Pakistan keeps on concocting conspiracy theories against India in an attempt to harm India’s global image. Despite getting debunked on several occasions at international forums, there is no end to Pakistan’s chronic lying. In this piece, we are going to expose some blatant lies and propaganda peddled by Pakistan’s state machinery against India.
Also Read, Pakistan’s disinformation campaign against agneepath scheme.
PAKISTAN’S KASHMIR BLACK DAY TOOLKIT
Since its inception, Pakistan has been plagued with Kashmir mania. The reason to call it a mania (mental disorder) is that it has only brought humiliation and misfortune to Pakistan. Still, despite all the losses, Pakistan is obsessed with its so-called Kashmir cause like a madman. Pakistan’s disinformation campaign against India has always been the central pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy. A classic example of Pakistan’s fake narrative on Kashmir is the so-called Kashmir Black Day toolkit that has emerged. This is a well-coordinated push to tamper with the truth and hide its own crimes of the past. For those who are not aware of the history, India celebrates October 27 as “Infantry Day”. On this day, Indian armed forces entered Kashmir and pushed back a Pakistan-backed tribal army that raided independent Kashmir.
PAKISTAN BACKED TRIBALS
On October 22, 1947, the Pakistan army launched “Operation Gulmarg” under the supervision of Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan to capture Srinagar. In this operation, around 2000 Pashtun tribal people were trained and armed along with Pakistan army regulars to cause havoc. These tribals surreptitiously crossed the border from Garhi Habibullah into Jammu and Kashmir and attacked the town of Muzaffarabad. They burned, looted, and raped with no regard and the utmost impunity. They even raped nuns, who were performing their duties at St. Joseph Hospital and schools in Baramulla. According to documented accounts, hundreds of women were raped and abducted, houses looted, and men slaughtered on the streets. Looking at the devastation and fearing a coup, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India on October 26, 1947. The Indian armed forces were airlifted to the Kashmir Valley the next day and saved Kashmir.
PAKISTAN USES FAKE PHOTO FROM SYRIA TO TARGET INDIA AT UN ON KASHMIR.
To commemorate the victory of the armed forces in safeguarding Kashmir, India celebrates Infantry Day on October 27. Pakistan, on the other hand, to hide its defeat and its human rights violations in Kashmir, observes October 27 as Black Day. The reason behind Black Day is to peddle a fake narrative that on October 27th, India occupied Kashmir. In reality, Kashmir legally merged into India after signing an instrument of accession that was signed by all other princely states. Recently, Pakistan released a toolkit to further its narrative of Kashmir under Indian occupation. This toolkit specifically talks about hast-tags, flyers, one-pagers, posters, and banners to be used to defame India. This propaganda will be peddled by thousands of fake bots and Pakistan’s prominent accounts. Pakistan has embarrassed itself on multiple occasions for presenting fake doctored pictures of Kashmiri victims of Indian atrocities.
ACCORDING TO TOOLKIT, TWEETS FROM PROMINENT PAKISTAN ACCOUNTS
BANNERS TO BE USED AS PER THE TOOLKIT
PAKISTAN’S PROPAGANDA POSTERS TO BE USED AS PER THE TOOLKIT,
ONE-PAGERS AS PER TOOLKIT
Also Read, Charter of Economics – General Bajwa’s last ditch to save Pakistan.
EU DISINFO LAB – PAKISTAN’S TAWDRY CAMPAIGN
Recently, an NGO named EU DISINFO LAB published a report targeting India. It claimed that India ran a massive online and offline 15-year-ongoing influence operation supporting Indian interests and discrediting Pakistan internationally. This report was later used by Pakistan’s Imran Khan to defame India. This report also targeted news outlets like ANI as being involved in this disinformation campaign. Though no doubt this attempt by Pakistan was pompous, it, as usual, lacks substance. This report made big claims but gave zero evidence other than lame rhetoric to support its accusations. In reality, it was just another attempt by Pakistan to pass the blame on India for its deteriorating global image. Pakistan, a terror-sponsoring state, needs no one to defame it. Even US presidents like Donald Trump and Joe Biden have called out Pakistan for being a safe haven for terrorists and being the most dangerous country in the world.
FAKE EU DISINFO LAB ARTICLE.
Recently, Pakistan arrested a dead terrorist named Sajid Mir after heavy pressure from the FATF. The arrest baffled the international community, as for the past 14 years, Pakistan lied to the world about his presence and declared him dead. It’s a small example of why Pakistan must blame itself for its tainted reputation. It’s the classic modus operandi of Pakistan in shielding global terrorists like Osama bin Laden. For years, Pakistan denied their presence, except for one day when the world found them under the protective supervision of its army. So, this entire EU DISINFO LAB facade is a face-saving tactic of Pakistan to shift the blame on India and play the victim card. It is also to be noted that Pakistan also gets support from Turkey and China in launching such campaigns.
EX POTUS DONALD TRUMP CALLING PAKISTAN SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS
In fact, Turkey covertly assisted Pakistan in establishing a cyber army to carry out disinformation campaigns against India like the Kashmir Black Day Toolkit. The international community doesn’t buy the report as it doesn’t require a lot to see through its propaganda. But such tactics are very handy for Pakistan’s establishment to fool its citizens and hide their misdeeds. In Pakistan, around 30% of the youth are illiterate, so it isn’t hard to feed them the enemy India narrative. Also, in Pakistan, anything said by a white man in fluent English is considered gospel truth. Any report by any non-existing NGO promoted as published by a white man easily sells in Pakistan, irrespective of its substance. Moreover, to give it an international appeal, these reports are given European names to make them look genuine.
These fake reports are then peddled through social media via bot accounts and state-controlled media. In this, Pakistan gets support from Turkish and Chinese state-controlled media outlets like TRT and Global Times. Though most of this news has been debunked by prominent Indians, it is now past time to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to combat such disinformation campaigns against the Indian state. What we need today is something like a Chinese firewall to restrict fake news penetration in our cyberspace. They say desperate times call for desperate measures. And it’s high time now to take a more proactive approach in dealing with information warfare harming Indian interests.
