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.