A 'global digital toolkit' is under the scanner of central intelligence agencies that is fuelling the pro-Khalistan network in favour of fugitive self-styled Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh. According to latest intelligence reports, this global toolkit is being run from Canada, US, UK and Australia where fugitive Khalistani elements and banned outfits like Sikh For Justice and Khalistan Tiger Force have found a safe haven.
As many as 1,739 accounts were created between March 15-19. And the highest—820 accounts—were created on March 17 itself, according to intelligence reports seen by THE WEEK.
Even as internet services are shut in parts of Punjab in the wake of the hunt for Amritpal Singh by the Punjab police, intelligence sources said it was expected that the global pro-Khalistani nexus may come out in his support, exposing the links to the deep-rooted ISI-backed conspiracy of destabilising Punjab.
The real trouble is not Punjab, but the pro-Khalistani foreign nexus from the west that has come into action.
When central agencies checked the tweets on Amritpal and Khalistan, they found that the pro-Khalistani agenda is being espoused mainly from west with social media posts having their genesis in Canada, Spain, Germany, UAE, New Zealand, Australia, US and UK.
The support for the Khalistani fugitive came heavily from a section within Canada which is stoking sentiments in the name of human rights concerns, said the report . The global pro-Khalistani nexus used many hashtags in support of Amritpal like “WestandbyAmritpal” and majority of the tweets on these hashtags are found to have come from Canada and US, intelligence officials said.
The next point of concern is the timeline of this global toolkit which is being run by newly created accounts, especially in March . A similar small peak was seen in 2020 at the time of the farmers' protests, and a deeper analysis showed that old Khalistani accounts that were created during these protests are still active even today. Intelligence revealed that the entire Khalistani network was inter-connected and found to be sharing each other tweets and contest to amplify the hashtag in favour of Amritpal Singh.
“On the face of it, everything seems independent to each other. But it has actually been part of a larger objective of the toolkit,” said an official . The key players involved in this propaganda have previously been engaged in pro-Khalistan calls and trying to show the country in a poor light, added the official .
Certain spam accounts were also found stoking the pro-Khalistani sentiment from the US. The toolkit stoking the Khalistani propaganda has not left many traces back to Pakistan as intelligence agencies found that there was very limited traffic coming directly from across the border this time .
