Under scanner: Human rights fronts on ISI's payroll take shape in new Kashmir disinformation push

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch on certain individuals from Jammu and Kashmir who are attempting to form human rights groups in a bid to spread a false narrative against the Indian establishment. Several journalists alleged to be on the payrolls of the ISI are also under the scanner. These persons are being told to write negative articles against the Indian security forces, an official said.

These rights groups are being formed so that they can put up false statistics to try and show the Indian armed forces as an aggressor in Jammu and Kashmir. Violence has dropped drastically in Jammu and Kashmir and there have been months when not a single incident has been reported.

The rights groups according to an Intelligence Bureau official seeks to dish out non-existent statistics and then spread a narrative against India at international platforms.

The agencies have also cautioned that these groups would also start magazines that would spread a false narrative about Jammu and Kashmir.

There has been a sudden rise in the number of conferences involving international players that are being organised online. Some locals from Kashmir attend these webinars and speak ill about the establishment. They try to portray on international platforms that the abrogation of Article 370 has led to the suppression of Kashmiri voices. They also spread a false narrative against India that human rights violations are taking place galore in the Union Territory.

Another official said that this campaign is a marked difference when compared to the earlier strategy of violence on the streets that the ISI had adopted for Jammu and Kashmir. It is a well-known fact that stone pelting which was a norm post Friday prayers every week has stopped today.

The establishment has managed to convince the youth in Kashmir that it is tourism and not terrorism that thrives. This approach has in fact worked and tourism has become a vital economic pillar contributing around 7 per cent to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The estimated economic value stands at Rs 18,550 crore. In the year 2024, a record 2.35 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir and the sector today supports 5 lakh livelihoods.

The ISI and Pakistan Army planned and executed the Pahalgam attack with the specific purpose of targeting the tourism industry and also trying to draw India into a war. While there was a setback temporarily, today the sector has bounced back, officials say.

Post 2016, the number of terror incidents have dropped dramatically. While the number of terror related incidents have come down, what has irked the ISI the most is the number of local recruitments into terror groups falling. In 2019, the number of locals joining terror groups stood at 143 when compared to 7 in 2024.

Another official said that hardcore terrorism in the Union Territory has hardly any takers today. Hence the ISI has decided to invest heavily on soft terror and this involves a disinformation narrative.

Officials say that while these so-called human rights groups will try and fudge data, they would also use deep fake videos and Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated content heavily. This could include fake videos relating to atrocities. Images to this effect would also be generated by these elements, the official added.

The ISI has identified several people for this project. Many of them have been associated in some way or the other with separatist groups in the past. Some have even supported outfits such as The Resistence Front, which is an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

These persons have been given the job of identifying locals in every nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir. They would in turn have to form smaller groups and meet with people and spread a false narrative, officials have learnt. The larger agenda is to take the Jammu and Kashmir issue to the International platform and paint the Indian agencies and government in poor light, officials also say.

--IANS

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