ISI’s two-pronged India plan: Kashmir recruitment, Bangladesh propaganda

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Pakistan has been working on a dual plan to fuel unrest in India, and the Inter-Services Intelligence’s Kashmir desk has suggested a two-pronged strategy for the purpose.

The ISI has been focusing extensively on its operations in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Bangladesh. While in Kashmir, it is reducing the recruitment of local youth and choosing operatives from other parts of the country; in Bangladesh, the propaganda game is set to hit its peak, the Indian intelligence agencies have learnt.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that as locals in Jammu and Kashmir come under the scanner very quickly, it has been decided to look for recruits from other parts of the country.

“The ISI has, in fact, in the past recruited from Kerala for operations in Jammu and Kashmir and is set to repeat the strategy,” the official said.

Post the abrogation of Article 370, several recruitment strategies by groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen have failed.

First, the locals are no longer interested in violence, and the peaceful conduct of the September 2024 legislative elections is an example of that. The people of Jammu and Kashmir indicated a strong desire for political representation.

Further, tourism has boomed post the abrogation of Article 370, and this has led to the locals staying away from violence and terror-related activities, the official said.

Another official said that with local recruitments slowing down and existing recruits under heavy scrutiny, the ISI has been scouting for youth outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Recruits are being scouted in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In these states, there are a considerable number of youths who have been radicalised by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

“Both these groups have heavily used Kashmir-related propaganda to radicalise the youth. Such youth will easily fall into the ISI’s trap and become potential recruits for activities in Jammu and Kashmir,” the official said.

To keep the Indian agencies busy and divert their attention from Jammu and Kashmir, the ISI has directed groups such as the The Resistance Front (TRF), People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), Kashmir Tigers (KT), and Allah Tigers (AT) to shift their focus towards Bangladesh. These groups, which are proxies of the Lashkar and the Jaish, were created to spread propaganda and influence the people against the Indian state.

Another official said that these proxies are now working closely with groups in Bangladesh.

Multiple social media handles impersonating Indian Army personnel and government officials are being created. Further, logos of Indian media channels are being used on videos which carry out a disinformation campaign against India.

The shift to Bangladesh is a strategic one and is intended to divert attention away from the Kashmir Valley. Pakistan deliberately played the wait-and-watch game when it came to Bangladesh operations.

Islamabad completely focused on consolidating the diplomatic upper hand in Bangladesh before activating its propaganda channels in the country. The proxy terror groups have been told to focus on content that is completely anti-India and fake. Using fake handles of officials and armed personnel, the ISI is set to ramp up its disinformation campaign on a very large scale with the help of Bangladesh-based groups, officials say.

While the proxy groups would work on the Bangladesh game plan, the ISI will continue to recruit for Kashmir from other parts of the country.

In 2008, the ISI had managed to slip in four operatives from Kerala into Jammu and Kashmir. There was absolutely no information on any of these four operatives until they were gunned down.

Muhammed Fayaz and Muhammed Fahiz from Kannur, Abdul Raheem from Mallapuram, and Muhammed Yasin from Ernakulam were gunned down by the security forces in the Lolab forests of Kupwara. A fifth member, Abdul Jabeer, managed to escape and fled back to Kerala before being arrested.

Recruiting from various parts of the country for the Kashmir battle suits the ISI. The ISI hopes to build up a strong force in Jammu and Kashmir at a time when infiltrations have stalled, and local recruitments have gone down considerably. Further, it also sends out the message that people from across the country and not just the locals, believe that the Kashmir issue concerns a wider majority.

The ISI has instructed the proxy groups to ramp up their disinformation campaign in Bangladesh as it gets set to put in motion its pan-India recruitment strategy for Jammu and Kashmir, an official said.

–IANS

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