During a virtual informal meeting of the plenary on the annual report of the Security Council, the Indian representative stunned the world community by its remarks. It `called for permanently removing the issue of Jammu and Kashmir under the outdated agenda item of the India-Pakistan question’ from the Security Council’s agenda. He added `such “irrational exuberance” has no takers in a dignified world’. In a veiled attack on Pakistan, he accused it to be ` globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates’.(India for permanently removing J-K issue under ‘outdated agenda item’ from UNSC, The Week September 1, 2020).UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti pointed out that even UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his statement last August, clearly referred to the 1972 bilateral Simla Agreement.
First attempt to delete plebiscite question: Till 1953, India was, at least verbally, committed to the plebiscite. But, in subsequent period, it had been making frantic efforts to warp the United Nation Organization and woo the United States of America in her favour. For instance, during temporary absence of Pakistan’s representative India tried to get the `India-Pakistan Question’ deleted from the UN agenda.
India based her plea on Security Council’s informal decision, dated July 30, 1996, about deleting dormant questions. The Question was deleted during the Pak rep’s absence, but was restored to agenda upon his arrival.
A rogue state: No UN resolution incorporates India’s view that maharajah had acceded to India. The main resolutions on Kashmir are: (a) United Nations’ Commission for India Pakistan (UNCIP) Resolution dated August 13, 1948. Para 75 (Serial110) in Part III of this resolution states ` The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan reaffirm their wish that the future status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the will of the people and to that end, upon acceptance of the truce agreement, both Governments agree to enter into consultations with the Commission to determine fair and equitable conditions whereby such free expression will be assured. (b) The UNCIP Resolution dated January 5, 1949 Para 51 (Serial 1196) states ‘The question of accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite’.
On November 2, 1947, Nehru declared in a radio broadcast that the government of India was “prepared, when peace and order have been established in Kashmir, to have a referendum held under international auspices like the United Nations.” I am quoting from Chaudhri Mohammad Ali’s The Emergence of Pakistan.
By disowning the UN resolutions on disputed status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir State, India qualified as a rogue state. A jus cogen of the International Law is pacta sunt servanda, treaties are to be observed and are binding on parties. Till about 1953, Indian leaders reiterated their commitment to hold a plebiscite to determine future status of the disputed state. Even India’s view is that it is a dispute though a bilateral one. But, the Simla Accord also rers to the UN charter. India is not willing to talk to Pakistan eyeball-to-eyeball in the dispute. So bilateral negotiations become meaningless. The way out is to refer to the UN.
Invitation to war: By renouncing the UN resolutions, India has thrown in the gauntlet. `Take Kashmir by force if you can’.
RAW’s lexicon: It is unfortunate that even India’s international representatives have become RAW’s mouthpieces. India’s fake news agencies and channels abroad particularly those in European Union call Pakistan’s ISI a `criminal syndicate’.
How India employs disinformation against Pakistan
RAW sponsored news media: India’s anti-Pakistan vocabulary matches the RAW-sponsored dish-outs by Indian news channels, particularly those ostensibly based in the European Union. These channels often rely on jejuna write-ups or broadcasts of journalists, Arnaud de Borchgrave and Roland Jacquard who are obviously RAW hired. Borchgrave spat venom against Pakistan’s peaceful nuclear programme..
Jacquard incessantly writes for Global Watch Analysis with brazen anti-Pakistan and- China orientation. Recently, it alleged that China bribed Nepal against India. It did not tell that India bears pension bill, equivalent to Nepal’s annual budget, of Gorkha retirees. Nepalese can apply for military or civil jobs in India as Indian citizens. It called Chinese diplomats “wolf warriors”. So on.
Roland Jacquard: He `chairs the International Terrorism Observatory’. He ` is the only member, “without publications, without website, without postal address and without any legal existence” writes Le Monde . He ran a bookstore `In the Name of Osama bin Laden’, dedicated to the networks of Islamist terrorism. `According to journalists Didier Bigo, Laurent Bonelli and Thomas Deltombe, Roland Jacquard’s comments as a media expert would be questionable. In July 2010, Roland Jacquard appeared on France 5 in the show C in the Air and presented to the camera a 300-page Arabic manual, supposedly intended for Al Qaeda cadres to protect themselves from the secret services on the Internet. The manual would allow them to install protective systems. The authenticity of the document was questioned by other journalists, the cover of the document being that of a simple manual of C-C downloadable for free on the Internet. < https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Jacquard>[accessed September3, 2020].
DisInfo Lab Expose: In a startling disclosure, EU-based non-governmental organisation EU DisinfoLab revealed an India-sponsored fake, dis-informational network of 265 fake media outlets in 65 countries, including US, Canada, Brussels, and Geneva. The network was being run by Srivastava Group of India. It listed New Delhi Times as one of its assets, and also ran a think tank called International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies. The Institute paid forthe travel and accommodation of an unofficial far-right delegation of 23 European Union parliamentarians to Srinagar on October 30, 2013. The trip was arranged by Indian – intelligence surrogate Madi Sharma who posed as a self-
Styled “international business broker”. The delegation’s shikara (boat) ride in Kashmir Lake (dal) pictured Kashmir as a heaven in serene peace. Some members however smelt a rat and abandoned the free joy ride. After connecting the dots, the disinformation watchdog found that the Times of Geneva Online, EP (European parliament) Today and“4newsagency.com
” had shady links to a large network of think tanks, Non-Governmental Organisations, and fake news websites in over 65 countries. The network worked day in and day to create a `mirage’ of anti-Pakistan perceptions by influencing world’s political leaders, international institutions, as well as gullible ordinary folk alike.
The RAW-sponsored EP Today quickly apologised for aping Russia Today’s content and promised to desist from doing so in future. India used fake websites; together with India’s financial relations (Rafael and AS-400 deals, and trade) with world to isolate Pakistan. The fake website described themselves as “independent not -for-profit news cooperatives ‘headquartered in Switzerland”.
It appears India has meticulously implemented Hitler’s propaganda theorems: `The bigger the lie, the better the results. The success of any propaganda campaign ultimately depends on the propagandist’s down -to-earth understanding of the “primitive sentiments of the popular masses”. Mein Kampf (pp. 179-180). According to New YorkTimes dated April 29, 2019, the only antidote to fake information is public awareness like hand-washing techniques during health crisis.
A planned onslaught: India dovetailed its disinformation policy with structural reforms in army and intelligence set-up to achieve its objective of isolating Pakistan. Sanjiv Tripathi, the longest serving Research and Analysis chief said `the entire J&K, including PoK, is part of India’. He stressed, `R&AW should carry out psychological operations … through seminars, articles and discussions.” Tripathi believed `Pakistan’s step -motherly treatment of its minorities, particularly the Pashtuns, Sindhis, Baluchis and Baltis, offers excellent ground for hosting Indian agents. However, very little is being done , except in PoK’. Lo! India under prime minister Narendar Modi modified Indian maps to include Pakistani, Nepalese and Chinese. Territories into India
RAW was restructured to play a more effective role in curbing centrifugal movements (freedom movements in Kashmir, North East, and Naxalbari footholds). All security agencies and advisers now report to new security czar, India’s National Security Adviser
Ajit Doval. He is aided by four deputies (earlier there was only one). The deputies include former spymasters, Rajinder Khanna, R.N. Ravi, and Pankaj Saran, besides amilitary adviser (Lt Gen V.G. Khan dare).
India’s Strategic Policy Group, idle since Manmohan Singh’s second term, has been revived (to create troubles in Sindh, Balochistan, and KPK). NSA’s head has replaced hitherto head, the cabinet secretary. He will also head the newly set up Defence Planning Committee and the four-member National Security Advisory Board (Lt GenS.L. Narasimhan, a China expert, former RAW hand, A.B. Mathur, and Bimal Patel, an academic). A new post of national cyber security coordinator was created under Computer Emergency Response Team head Gulshan Rai (who reports to the primeminister). K. Ilango, who manipulated Sri Lanka elections in 2015 has been reactivated.
Cyber- and psy-war slots: Bipen Rawat, then Indian army chief said, `A jawan costs the army Rs 6-8lakh a year, compared to an officer who earns Rs 20-22 lakh annually. Simply put, cutting down four or five officers will help save a crore’. He indicated (October 2, 2018)`army could cut over one lakh troops in the next few years and some of them could be assigned new roles’ (cyber and psy -war). Not only state – but also non-state actors are engaged in so-called fifth-generation warfare.
Influence of fake news in elections: In the lead-up to the elections, the Indian government summoned the top executives of Facebook and Twitter to discuss the crisis of coordinated misinformation, fake news and political bias on their platforms. In March, Joel Kaplan, Face book’s global vice president for public policy, was called to appear before a committee of 31 members of the Indian Parliament, who were mostly from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, to discuss “safeguarding citizens’ rights on social/onlinenews media platforms.”
The hearing was a hoax as B.J.P. was the chief beneficiary of divisive content that reaches millions because of the way social media algorithms, especially Facebook, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were too timid to tackle the problem head-on for fear of offending politicos. A large proportion of messages shared on social networks in India are not verifiable. Facebook India has a small 11- to 22-member fact-checking team for content related to Indian elections. India also has a vast publicly funded Press Information Bureau, and a television and radio network, to monitor, track and debunk fake news. They are good for nothing being under governmental control.
Disinformation or fifth-generation war in history: ‘Disinformation’ (Russian deziinformatzia) is a concept which finds mention in Sun Tzu’s Ping Fa (Principles of War). Even before Sun Tzu, Kautliya in Arthashastra supported disinformation as a civil and military warfare tool within his concept of koota yuddha (unprincipled warfare as distinguished from dharma yuddha , righteous warfare).
Inference: Tzu’s and Kautliya’s principles were used not only in the World War II but also in the Cold War period (to hoodwink own and foreign people). But, India’s disinformation is no propaganda. It is brazen lying. Richard Deacon says, ‘Truth twisting…unless it is conducted with caution and great attention to detail, it will inevitably fail, if practiced too often… It is not the deliberate lie which we have to fear
(something propaganda), but the half-truth, the embellished truth and the truth dressed up to appear a something quite different’ (The
Truth Twisters, London, Macdonald &Company (Publishers) Limited, 1986/1987, p. 8). He gives several examples of disinformation including subliminal disinformation by which the truth can be twisted so that the distortion is unconsciously absorbed something which both television and radio commentators have subtly perfected’ (p. 9, ibid.). In the USA, Creel Committee, through false anti-German propaganda turned pacifist Americans against Germans.
