On the third anniversary of the virtual repealing of Article 370 from the constitution, Pakistan prepared a toolkit on Kashmir full of expected diatribes against India. On this day in 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced the bill in the parliament to turn the discriminatory provision in the statutes dysfunctional. Indian intelligence agencies, sources say, have planned a befitting response.
A toolkit is a collection of messages meant for social media that is distributed among willing participants in the exercise of political propaganda. At a time assigned by the mastermind, all participants start copying one message from the compilation at a time and posting them primarily on Twitter but also on Facebook and other social media platforms. The toolkit made in Pakistan has 15 pages full of rants, distributed in less than 280 characters each that citizens of that country began tweeting this morning.
Not ordinary internet users but Pakistani agencies have prepared the toolkit, say Indian intelligence sources. The sleuths got a whiff of it shortly before the anniversary of the historic day for India was to arrive.
Embassies of Pakistan in China, Belgium, Japan, Ukraine, Birmingham, Dubai, Australia, Italy, Denmark and Germany have been circulating the toolkit or draft messages meant for social media. One of the messages claims: "India should not be allowed to use its unilateral and illegal practices established with effect from 5 August 2019. The measures should be reversed. Stop the oppression and human rights violations against the people of Kashmir. Prevent and reverse the demographic changes in the occupied territory."
A Pakistani journalist posted:
Ordinary citizens of Pakistan jumped in to bolster the propaganda.
Popular Indian handles did not take it lying down. While the tweets of many Pakistanis were partially or wholly identical because they had been copied from the same source, every verified handle in India spoke an individualistic language.
Agencies led by the ISI of Pakistan planned to bombard social media with such messages on 5 August. India's intelligence agencies prepared a dossier to counter Pakistan's attempts to circulate anti-India content on social media.
Union ministers in India are fighting the Pakistani propaganda while national broadcaster DD News made a special programme for the occasion. Private news channels joined in.
On the eve of 3rd anniversary of the Abrogation of Article 370, an article on how the historic move has given a major thrust to tourism in the UT of J&K. https://t.co/Uf62IyaBBx
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) August 4, 2022
On this day in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji led government abrogated article 370 and ended the special status for Jammu and Kashmir.
The move has paved the way for the re-establishment of democracy in J&K and has brought back peace, stability, and prosperity. pic.twitter.com/tcNhD7lleS— Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) August 5, 2022
DoTook from #Srinagar | What has changed in Jammu and Kashmir since abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Watch: https://t.co/Tcci5JE4qL@AshokShrivasta6 pic.twitter.com/7miLa6bbN2
— DD News (@DDNewslive) August 4, 2022
Pradeep Bhandari : ' Even a few years ago, nobody could have imagined unfurling the National Flag at Lal Chowk or a day would pass by without a bandh.
Post Article 370 abrogation, today's Kashmir represents the idea of a New India.' #HarGharTiranga @pradip103 pic.twitter.com/hCbK7ARiGs— Jan Ki Baat (@jankibaat1) August 5, 2022
Meanwhile, even as the third anniversary of the repealing of Article 370 arrived, politicians in Kashmir are waiting for the elections. Recently in Srinagar, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said that hotels in the city were full and the airport was buzzing with tourists. He said, "Jammu and Kashmir has become a top tourist destination for the first time in the last 70 years. Normalcy has returned in the state."
When asked around what time elections would be held in Jammu and Kashmir, Hussain said, "The Election Commission of India is an independent body. It is for the commission to decide whether and when to hold elections in Kashmir." He said that the government and the BJP had nothing to do with the conduct of the elections. Hussain said that the commission was going to fix the dates of elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
New Jammu and Kashmir without Article 370
Providing impetus to tourism in J&K and Ladakh.
7 projects worth Rs. 594 crore sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD Schemes.#ShiningJammuKashmir#NayaKashmir— Syed Shahnawaz Hussain (@ShahnawazBJP) August 5, 2022
Jammu and Kashmir does not have an assembly since November 2018. It was dissolved by then-Governor Satya Pal Malik after PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti staked her claim to form the government. Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018 after the BJP pulled out of the Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition government.