Pakistan to hire media agencies to project anti-India rhetoric in PoK

@Kunal_Chonkar

From hiring lobbying firms to improve its image to paying British MPs to spread false narrative on Kashmir, a discredited Islamabad desperate to corner New Delhi is now inviting media agencies to generate public opinion against India in PoK regions of Gilgit-Baltistan

New Delhi: Desperate times call for desperate measures – a disjointed Islamabad is leaving no stones unturned in attempts to spread anti-India narrative in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Days after the Imran Khan-led government was slammed for hiring British Member of Parliaments to visit PoK; Islamabad is now appointing media agencies to spread false narrative on India and its military forces in the region.

The newest attempt by Pakistan to hold India responsible comes ahead of two events – the first anniversary (August 5) of the revocation of Article 370, and the elections (August 18) announced by Pakistan in the illegally and forcibly occupied Indian regions of Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to information, the Pakistani government has invited media agencies to ‘conceptualize and communicate anti-India messages’, and ‘develop – digitally manage the spread of false information on Indian military actions in Kashmir.’ The initial work notice was issued through a tender published in a local newspaper calling reputed and government registered media houses for assisting Islamabad in its bidding.

The tender, available with TheNews21, also seeks ‘printing work to stage fair and exhibition of ‘Black Day’ and ‘Kashmir Solidarity Days’ in Gilgit-Baltistan. Apart from this the government also wants the media agencies to help them in ‘Special Task’, which has been categorically kept confidential.

“They (Pakistani Government) had to publish this tender twice. It was first published in May which only mentioned the work related to ‘Black Day’ and ‘Kashmir Solidarity Days’ protests, communication, and messaging. However, it was re-published in July with an added scope of work ‘Special Task’,” a senior security analyst based in Dubai told TheNews21. He suggested that the details of the ‘Special Task’ not published in the tender notice, could involve developing fake videos, hate messages, and anti-India rhetoric based on the recent killings of terrorists in Kashmir.

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The analyst claimed that in the past few weeks, Pakistan-based social media handles are vigorously discussing the 116 terrorists killed by Indian security forces in 2020, including 38 slain in June. He also indicated that Pakistan has started using ‘secondary mediums’, including private agencies, to criticize Indian military actions in Kashmir across West and Central Asia. 

Speaking to TheNews21, former Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad on the point of Pakistan using media agencies to highlight anti-India rhetoric said that this is a desperate measure by a dysfunctional government. He said that in the past, Pakistan has been actively projecting the Kashmir issue and others through its embassies in West Asia, particularly in Gulf nations not requiring assistance from ‘secondary sources.’

“However, with Pakistan turning towards professional help (media agencies) to project their point of view (anti-India narrative) is a direct result of their concern that their status in the region has diminished significantly and India’s status has increased,” Ahmad explained, while adding that concerns are growing deep for Islamabad with their perspective on PoK having a limited resonance in the region. 

The veteran diplomat said that through these media agencies Pakistan will try to project the Indian government abandoning its traditional values and espousing the cause of Hindutva. He pointed out that Islamabad will not only use Hindutva as an instrument for their media messaging but also highlight the fake abuses in Jammu-Kashmir. 

“The lurch in favor of using media efforts to create a public opinion in their favor is a major desperate effort by on behalf of a thoroughly discredited government. They are doing their best, but Imran Khan’s government has a mark of sustained incompetence, and this will not be effective at all,” Ahmad concluded.