There is a massive protest going on in the Northeast region of the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016. According to intelligence agencies, some Islamist organisations that have protested against the bill could also be indulged in provoking and sponsoring protests against Citizenship Bill 2016 by organizations claiming to be representing the interests of the indigenous people of the region.
Last month, Amit Shah had assured the people that Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh refugees in the state “need not be afraid” because the Citizenship Bill will be granting them citizenship in the country.
For more details: Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to help persecuted Hindus
According to a Swarajya report, the organizations from the northeast like All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) and some other Islamist bodies have protested against the bill. The central intelligence agencies suspect that these organisations are also funding protests by others against the bill.
There are so many posts on social media spreading lies and misinformation with respect to the bill that are fuelling the protests. The main aim of these posts is to turn indigenous people against the BJP, and also to invoke a feeling of alienation among people of northeast.
The Swarajya has quoted a senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer saying, “We found that most of these posts emanated from Pakistan and Bangladesh. The twitter handles from which the misinformation (about the bill) was being spread were being operated from Pakistan. Hundreds of fake Facebook accounts created over the last one month and operated from computers with their URLs located in Pakistan and even in the Middle East were being used to spread rumours about the bill.” The officer further added, “The contents of these posts would be shared by some Twitter handles and Facebook users widely within the (northeast) region and then repeated by leaders of bodies representing the indigenous people of the region. They would then gain wide circulation.”
According to Swarajya report, some tweets from Pakistan based Twitter handles claimed that once the bill is cleared, more than 1.5 crore Bangladeshi Hindus would come to North East and get Indian citizenship, started circulating about a month ago. These lies were widely shared by the local populace, even by various organizations in Assam and the other North East region. A senior IB officer said, “We found that there is a distinct pattern in how and from where such misinformation and lies originate and how they gain very wide circulation within a matter of a few days.” Anti-India elements infiltrated anti-Bill movement.
According to Swarajya report, one particular organization that has been allegedly spreading misinformation and lies about the bill is Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) led by the controversial Akhil Gogoi who is a Marxist and is alleged to have links with Maoists. He even said that “if the t bill is passed, then each Assamese must have the courage to say that they will not be a part of India.” Many senior leaders of Assam have accused Gogoi of spreading lies and misinformation about the bill.
The Central agencies are no closely monitoring the social media posts and discussions on the Citizenship Bill. The Swarajya has quoted an IB officer saying, “We are probing the funds angle also. Preliminary evidence of money changing hands has emerged. Some organisations and persons who are leading protests (against the bill) may have received funds knowingly or unknowingly from Islamists.”
The breaking India forces, with the help of Pakistan and ISI, want to launch a digital war in India. Fake profiles with Hindu names are being created to abuse journalists, leaders, celebrities, hurl caste abuses etc. All this has been happening from a very long period of time. Last year, Times Now in an explosive investigation exposed sinister social media activities against India by Pakistan based twitter profiles. Times Now investigation had revealed that the top trends on social media that were the brainchild of anti-Modi cabal had enjoyed huge support from across the border. Anti-India and anti-Modi lobby got a massive boost from the Pakistan based twitter handles.
For more details: Times Now investigation reveals Pakistan’s hand behind anti-India social media trends.