Pakistan's YouTube Propagandists: Click Baits, Information War, Security Risks

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

For reasons that are totally obscure, YouTubers from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are hugely popular in India. One reason could be the facination with the enemy and what he has to say about India. In the run up to the pran pratishta of the Rama temple at Ayodhya the barrage of invective and provocative comments from Pakistan crossed all limits of propriety and civil behaviour. The context of their discourse was the participation of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the ceremony and the incident of Decemeber 6th 1992 when the existing structure was brought down. Absent in their discussion was the long and sustained legal battle and there was no mention of the fact that the Supreme Court of India had given the judgement in favour of the Ram Janmabhumi Trust. The purpose of their entire attack was to incite anger and resentment in India and damage India's standing. 

The most venemous of the YouTubers from Pakistan is this sauve "Dr" Qamar Cheema who presents himself as a Geo Strategy Expert, India Watcher, Foreign Policy analyst. His rambling, at times even incoherent, string of words in a Punjabi accented Urdu patio, has only one objective: attack India and undermine its growing international stature. His stance on the Iranian missile attack on Pakistan is instructive. He suppressed the fact that militany attacks were being launched against Iran from Pakistan's soil. His outright support for terrorism in Kashmir is rather disconcerting and I wonder why this parricular YouTuber is not being blocked in India. His attack on the Rama Temple and its construction needs to be taken seriously as it has the potential to unleash violence in India. Qamar Cheema is silent on the question of minorities in his own country. I have not heard him mention the black Blasphemy Laws that are used to target Hindis and Sikhs in Pakistan, he is silent on the abduction of non Muslim girls and their sale to salwar clad senior citizens of Pakistan. There is no doubt that he enjoys the patronage of Rawilpindi, their euphemism for the Army Headquarters which runs their so called Hybrid Regime: Military dictatorship behind a civilian fascade.  His discourse revolves around presenting Pakistan as a victim of the vindictive policies of India towards Pakistan. India as far as I know just ignores Pakistan as it considers that country a mere nuisance.

Another YouTuber whose popularity in India is indeed huge is Ms Aarzoo Kazmi, a woman whose graceful smile wins her tonnes of admirers here in India. This woman is fr more sophisticated in her approach than the man discussed above. She is not a blinkered apologist of the men in uniform and at times she even utters a commet or two that can be critical of their "Establishment". The fact that she is allowed to broadcast is indication that she has support from the higherups in the Military hierachy. Her approach is based on the premise that India and Pakistan are conjoined twins strugglimg to reclam their identity. Ms Azmi,  India is fully aware of what it was and is and will be. There is no need for any advice. She is also strongly pro Pakistan though she will appear dressed in sari sporting bindi on occasion. Her sartorial experiments makes her popular in India.

Both these YouTubers are close to the Establishment and Indian viewers must be aware of their proximity to their Security Apparatus. Hence they disgorge propaganda against India, misrepresent its policies and programmes and strive hard to disturb social peace in India on behalf of their patrons in Pakistan. Unfortunately a Professor of Political Science from the University of Delaware, Muqtadar Khan has joined them.

India needs to take such propaganda seriously for reasons that I have already mentioned. The subscriber base  of their YouTube channel is entirely drawn from India which makes these propagandists particularly dangerous as they reach deep into the Indian population. If we look at their viewership figures it is staggering. They have at least 100,000 views on an average which means that they earn arounf $125,000 (US dollars) a year at the bare minimum. And Indians are helping them live this life.

Barack Obama in India: Republic Day, Nuclear Deal and Indo-US Relations

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

The Republic Day 2015 has quite a few firsts to its credit. For the first time in 66 years a serving US President was the Chief Guest at this important public event. And for the first time too significant political and economic agreements were signed, particularly the agreement on Civil Nuclear Deal. Let us put all this in perspective. A year ago, no one in India would have deemed it possible for a US President to be the Chief Guest on the occasion of the Republic Day. The commentators here have simplified the whole issue into one of "chemistry" between the two leaders. Nothing can be more wrong than this. USA has finally realized that India has changed and it is no longer possible to ignore India. The fact that USA was used to equating Indian concerns with Pakistan's sensitivities was the crux of the whole relationship, India was usually hyphenated with Pakistan. For the first time the joint statement issued after the talks made an unequivocal commitment to end terrorism and in the usual diplomatic parlance took a firm step towards ensuring that the 26/11 suspects are brought to book. I think this shift in US policy in the most important outcome of the visit.

The Civil Nuclear deal between India and USA was signed sis years back and there was little progress on the issue because of the "liability" clause in the Act passed by the Indian Parliament. The legality of the liability clause can be debated but the fact is that the BJP insisted that the clause which makes the supplier and not the operators of the power plants liable for the cost of any accident. The US power industry was naturally apprehensive about this clause and Modi was able to talk the US President into using his executive powers to iron out the differences. I think this is again a huge shift in US position. The fact that a Democrat has been able to muster the political will to make a huge shift in India's favor is a sign that Indo-US Relations are improving. I am personally in favor of a more even handed approach so that the Chinese Government does not get too highly perturbed over the growing ties between the two countries. However, the deal was struck within 7 months of Modi coming to power and this goes to show that in the domain of  foreign policy Narendar Modi has rare grit and talent.

The other important takeaway from the visit of Barack Obama is the US endorsement of the "Make in India" campaign launched by Narendar Modi. The long and dreary years of Congress rule staring with Jawaharlal Nehru saw India adopting a model of development which was based on the importation of technology in the knocked down version and the factories reassembled in India. The Ambassador car is a good example of this. Reassembly of kits, manufacturing on the basis of expired patents or process innovation were the hall marks of Indian industrialization. And this charade was called "thrust toward self sufficiency". Rightly has India rejected this model of development and Modi in his Make in India Campaign seeks transfer of technology, partnership and skill development all of which were absent in the Nehruvian model. The Make in India campaign  figured prominently in the Davos Meet.

The recent comments in China in which the Obama visit was sought to be downplayed has to be viewed seriously. China has very perceptively understood that there is a major shift in the very principles of Indian foreign policy. I am sure that Narendar Modi during his forthcoming visit to China will reassure  China that Indo-US relations are not directed at China and so far Narendar Modi has sent out all the right messages.

The Republic Day began with Narendar Modi paying tribute to the Indian Army at India Gate which was built by the British to honour the war dead of India in the Great War, 1914-18. 

Should India join Obama in his war against ISIS

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books


It has been reported that during Narendar Modi's visit to USA, the President of US Barack Obama will request India's participation in the war against ISIS, a war in which India does not have any particular interest or desire. Sir Harold Nicholson in his great work entitled Diplomacy wrote: Do not waste your time in trying to discover what is at the back of the Oriental's mind; there may, for all you know be nothing at the back: concentrate all your attention upon making quite certain that he is left with no doubt whatsoever in regard to what is at the back of your mind (p. 111). I think if President Barack Obama feels that the Prime Minister of India is going to waltz into a war of USA's making, he is quite mistaken. The stranglehold of post colonial gibberish which passes off as wisdom has inured Indian academics and policy makers to the inherent racism in USA's global policies.

The war which is unfolding in Syria and Iraq stems from the criminal, illegal and wanton act of naked aggression launched by USA against Iraq in 2003. The sustained violence unleashed by USA in Iraq and the self conscious promotion of identity politics has led to the present situation in which the Sunnis feeling alienated from the Iraqi regime started striking back. USA made the mistake of believing that all those opposing US occupation of Iraq are al qaeda cohorts. As events have shown ISIS is a branch of the extreme Islamist ideology which has deep roots in the late eighteenth century  off shoot of Islam, the Wahabi cult. Charles Allen in his outstanding book God's Terrorists has shown that the Saud tribe of the Arabian desert used the austere desert religion of Wahhabism to capture power in Arabia and the Ottoman conquest of the region kept the more extreme forms of this religion under check. However, the British during World War I once again patronised the Wahabis and used them against the Ottoman Empire. The transformation of Wahhabism from a desert cult to a political ideology was the contribution of the British secret service especially T E Lawrence whose exploits are celebrated in Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Against this historical background we have to see if it is at all possible for USA to succeed in reining in the ISIS.

USA started destabilizing Syria the last bastion of Baathist modernizing regimes in the region very early after the attack on Iraq. It is well known that both under Saddam Hussein in Iraq and under the Assad regime in Syria religious fanaticism has been kept in check, women's rights secured, public health widespread and education accessible to all. Religious minorities like Orthodox Christians were safe and there was a degree of what Ibn Khaldun called assabiya in these countries. USA put its own thirst for oil ahead of the social needs and progress of the region and started arming groups with sophisticated weapons and training. ISIS is an off shoot of the Free Syrian Army which has had a strong presence in northeast Hasakeh province of Syria. Now when the group has started beheading Americans, USA turns around and starts calling it names. Till less than four months back their Secretary of State was threatening to bomb Syrian Army positions, a strategy which would have immensely helped ISIS. The wisdom and sagacity of Vladmir Putin prevented this unholy mess from unfolding. In short, USA has made it a habit to arm and train militants and use the Arab League to provide a semblance of legitimacy for unleashing provocative actions as it did both in Iraq and Libya.

The American Administration is now in a quandary of its own making. It cannot fight ISIS alone and is recruiting countries like Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia to extend support for its bombing campaign and the world knows that it is these countries which financed the ISIS in the first place. Turkey is rather ambivalent and the restive Kurdish population of Iraq and neighbouring parts of Turkey may use the mayhem of American intervention to carve out an independent state. USA still wants to arm and equip the Free Syrian Army even after events have shown that ISIS owes its origin to that very formation. At the same time USA wants to keep the option of overthrowing the last bastion of decency in the region, the regime of Syria. Iran is also an interested actor and is extracting a huge price for its cooperation, the tacit acceptance of its nuclear ambitions.

GIven the complexity of the situation, it is not in Indian interest to join hands with USA in its war against ISIS. India has now begun to insulate the country even from al qaeda by starting negotiations with Afghanistan and there is no need fro India to pull American chestnuts out of the fire.

The bombing of Iraq and Syria