The Army is not only battling militancy in Kashmir. Laterally, it is facing a 'war' on social media with the spread of fake and morphed videos which project soldiers in poor light.
Some of these videos, which show soldiers being cruel to local Kashmiris, are not even shot in India. Such videos are spread primarily through WhatsApp.
Official sources claim that such propaganda is generated from across Pakistan to discredit the Indian Army. Though it (fake videos) has been there for long, after the resumption of combat operations in Kashmir valley after a month-long halt, the number of such videos has gone up.
also read
- Manipur MLAs ask Centre to withdraw SoO with armed insurgents; MHA to take final call
- 2023 Rajouri civilian killings: NIA apprehends juvenile
- Army Day: Army personnel ‘pillars of strength and resilience’, says PM Modi
- ‘416 Myanmar soldiers entered India; Army keeping close watch on border situation’
- ‘Army working to normalise, ensure stability’, says Army Gen Manoj Pande on Manipur violence
According to officials in the military establishment, Pakistan is behind such propaganda in view of the ongoing 38th session of United Human Right Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.
Many videos of the Army bringing down houses, manhandling people and dragging terrorists have emerged since June 16. All of them are fake, a senior defence official said.
Official sources further said Pakistan and and a few other nations have come together to spread 49 pages of a UN report on human right violations by security agencies in Kashmir. However, Indian ministry of foreign affairs has rejected the report, terming it “fallacious, tendentious and motivated”.
"These videos are a soft and oblique way to spread a false narrative of human rights violations which are not there at all," a source said.
Nothing has changed for the Indian Army and its operations either during the suspension of operations (May 17 to June 16) or after its withdrawal, military sources said. In the last five days, security agencies have killed 11 militants in multiple operations in Kashmir valley. A total of 75 militants have been gunned down this year by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
In view of the large-scale false propaganda in the cyber world, the issue of having an independent and dedicated cyber command for the Indian Army has cropped up once again in the security establishment. The Army's proposal for having a cyber command has been pending for long. Similarly, the proposal for a defence cyber agency, which will work in close coordination with the National Cyber Security Advisor to check threats from the virtual world, is also yet to take off.