OPINION | Exposed: Pakistan’s propaganda machine-OxBig News Network

Pakistan army chief Gen. Asim Munir on Saturday again harped on the Hindu-Muslim “two-nation theory” at the military academy passing out parade, and said, this theory was central to the existence and identity of his country. Gen. Munir and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif told the parade that their armed forces were ready to retaliate if India launches an attack.  Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that if India launches attack, it must not underestimate his country’s capability. “We have nuclear bombs and missiles and we will give a strong response”, he said. Wartime posturings apart, the fact remains that Pakistan cannot win a conventional war against India and India cannot be browbeaten by the threat of nuclear weapons. Last year, I had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in my television show in Delhi,  and the PM jocularly replied that he had gone to check in Pakistan and found nothing. However, there is one point in which Pakistan can remain pro-active. It can peddle lies and with the social media platforms working overtime, it is easier to do this. In one video, made viral by Pakistani elements, a man appeared claiming to be an Indian army officer and held Indian army responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack. This man is clearly a tool working for Pakistan’s propaganda machine and he has nothing to do with the Indian army. All the claims that he was making are plain lies. Another narrative that was set in motion is that the CRPF deployment at the meadow in Pahalgam was removed a few days before the terror attack, on the directions of a senior official. This is a white lie. Pakistan also released a so-called list of Pahalgam victims to claim that there were 15 Muslims among those killed. This is another big lie. No need to add more such examples here. In the coming days, more lies will be peddled and efforts will be made to divide people in India by creating scares. Such narratives will be put in motion to appear as if they are authentic. All of us must remain careful and tell others to refrain from trusting such propaganda as gospel truth. In today’s information technology age, propaganda is a powerful tool and all of us should be wary. 

Indus Water: Modi has struck at Pakistan’s jugular vein 

After a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday, Water Resources Minister C R Paatil said, the government is working on short-term, medium-term and long-term measures to ensure that “not even a drop of water from Indus river system goes to Pakistan”. Responding to this, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that “any move to stop or divert Pakistan’s share of water under the Indus Waters Tready, will be met with full force, and “no one should harbour any illusions about or resolve”.  Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar said, his country will appeal to the United Nations to intervene. Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto said, “blood will flow if our share of water is stopped”. Already because of water shortage in summer, inter-province protests have begun in Sindh and Punjab, with people trying to stop movement of tankers carrying petroleum fuel to Punjab. People of Sindh are alleging that Punjab province is depriving them of their due share of water. Eight per cent of Pakistan’s agricultural output is dependent on water from Indus river saystem. Nearly 90 per cent of Pakistan’s food production is also depending on Indus river and its tributaries. Hydel power plants in Pakistan are dependent on Indus river water flow. To put in brief, nearly 25 pc of Pakistan’s GDP depends of Indus water river system and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has struck at this jugular vein. It is true that India presently lacks infrastructure to completely stop the flow of Indus water to Pakistan, but alarm bells are already ringing in Pakistan. Four wars were fought during the last 70 years, several diplomatic conflicts took place, but the Indus Water Treaty was never fiddled with. After Pahalgam killings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown the courage to keep the treaty in abeyance. People in Pakistan will now be starved of water and power. They will then realize the consequence of sheltering, training and sending terrorists to India. 

Why homes of terrorists were razed

All-out action against terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir continues, with houses of five Lashkar terrorists demolished by security forces in the Valley. The houses of Adil Hussain Thoker in Bijbehara, Anantnag, Asif Sheikh in Awantipora, Shahid Ahmed Kuttay in Shopian, Zahid Ahmed in Kulgam and Ahsan Sheikh in Pulwama were razed on Friday. These homes belonged to terrorists who were getting support from Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi had openly said in his Bihar rally that the edifices of terrorism will be razed to the ground. On Saturday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, his country was ready to join any “impartial, transparent probe into Pahalgam killings”, but he seems to have forgotten that India no more asks for evidence, it responds with lightning speed. Those days of India sending dossiers about terrorists to Pakistan are over, India now sends army, not dossiers. Already, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, in an interview to Sky News, has admitted that Pakistan had been nurturing terrorist groups for the last 30 years to help USA and UK. On Friday, Indian Air Force jets conducted ‘Exercise Aakraman’ near Line of Control. Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi held meetings with commanders in Srinagar and Udhampur to chalk out plans. All eyes are now on Indian armed forces.

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