DND Special Report

The Middle East is volatile again and a kind of “Islamic Colour Revolution” has collapsed the state institutions where the swift downfall of the Syrian administrative structure is being documented. This is nothing new as Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen have already gone through this kind of event and many countries in Africa also faced the same in the past but one factor to be noted in all victim countries and this factor is that their armies were strong enough to fight external factors, but they were made ineffective through political, ‘sectarian, ethnicity or lingual divide. Once the armies were becoming soft, the country was attacked within or from outside.  

It is a proven fact that the destruction of any country needs internal instability. In the Syrian case, the army had been fighting against the rebels for the past decade and a half but designers who wanted to destroy Syria kept injecting factors such as digital terrorism and pessimism to create new and expand already available social fault lines, resulting the collapse of the Syrian Army and then the collapse of order in the country within hours.

DND Thought Centre for the last four years has been collecting data about campaigns against Pakistan and the Pakistan Army. DND Thought Centre has produced over 150 reports through data collection such as international human rights reports, media articles, political statements, NGO fact sheets, commentaries of international experts from Global North, and a series of articles published in Western media. These tools are time-tested for the destruction of African as well as Middle Eastern countries and they have under used to harm Pakistan for a long.

The Chief of the Pakistan Army COAS Gen Asim Munir has been indicating digital terrorism is being used against Pakistan as a warfare tool

The DND data indicates that adversaries of Pakistan have intensified efforts to isolate Pakistan worldwide and orchestrated a propaganda campaign against it, particularly its prime institution – the Pakistan Army which is a target of sarcastic, ironical, biased, and slurry attacks through using tools of digital terrorism. In simple words, “diffusion dynamics” are being used to harm Pakistan. Sarcasm, Irony, Mockery, and violent visuals trigger the inbuilt human biases and generate questions and then such questions create curiosity and unconsciously force the recipient to react, and that reaction triggers hatred of recipients against the targeted victim.

Our army has been continuously fighting foreign-funded terrorism inside the country since 2007 and our enemies want to weaken and destabilize the Pakistani Army through this war

We need to revisit the situation where Pakistan stands and what is needed to battle such constant propaganda flow.

The human mind becomes prey to the words and the systematic use of cognitive semiotics can set and reset the target perception, this propaganda tool is not only lethal for the individual cognitive system but also toxic for the collective wisdom.

Digital Terrorism

Injecting violence within countries is a known tactic of enemies through launching hybrid warfare to achieve the goal of destroying the enemy. The Chief of the Pakistan Army COAS Gen Asim Munir has been indicating this point for a long stating digital terrorism is being used against Pakistan as a warfare tool.

Why Pakistan Army is the foremost target of Digital Terrorism?

Since the central pillar of Pakistan which is balancing the power structure to an economic influx in Pakistan is its army thereby it is the foremost and strategic target Syrian events are a wake-up call for Pakistani civilians as to why the Army is under direct attack but enemies also know that Pakistan Army is not an easy target to hit that’s why Digital Terrorism is a continues process against Pakistan Army. Our youth are the critical target of this digital terrorism but our youth must understand that we are sitting on a geographically vulnerable piece of land, at one end it is our advantage but under the weak guard, it could become our collective graveyard.

Our army has been continuously fighting foreign-funded terrorism inside the country since 2007 and our enemies want to weaken and destabilize the Pakistani Army through this war. Therefore, now we have to decide whether it is only the job of the Pakistani Army to fight the forces against the country or whether is it the collective responsibility of a nation to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistan Army against the evil intentions of these terrorists. We have to decide whether we want to be an example like these countries or save our country and make an example of terrorists and thwart their nefarious aims.

Middle Eastern developments emphasize the geographical location of Pakistan and the role of the army because recent events reconfirmed that the security of the nation depends on the armed forces. There have been continuous attempts by enemy countries like India to target the Pakistani army to make our defence system ineffective. Some other forces at the national and international levels are trying to prove the Pakistan Army is unreliable and weak by involving it in corporate sector businesses. These attempts to weaken the Pakistan Army do not come only from external enemies, but some internal elements are also involved in it who want to weaken the national institution for their interests. These elements aim to mislead the public against the army and affect the strength of the country’s defence institution. Their aim is only to shine their politics, which poses threats to the integrity of Pakistan and the unity of the nation.

Using social media, these elements are constantly targeting Pakistan and the Pakistan Army with negative propaganda. The aim is to create a gap between the Pakistan Army and the people and achieve the same goals that were achieved in countries like Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen. This piece of land is highly in demand by multiple parties for multiple interests. Let’s not forget that by lowering its guards, we can become another Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan. We are living in peace and using our geographic location in our favor is just because of our defence forces.

The Faultlines

Social scientists believe that social inadequacy operates as a booster to disintegrate any society that is the victim of manipulation of its faultlines by its enemies rather social inadequacy is itself a dreadful faultline. We need to review how India and Zionist lobbies are exploiting our fault lines, which had been Islamic extremists, sectarian, and so-called Balochistan nationalism. Understandably, existing fault lines can easily be twisted. By studying the Cold War-era communication warfare, one can get an idea of how a faultline could be artificially created.

The Indian and Zionist propagandists are using highly educated propaganda experts, those who are fully aware of social and cultural semiotics and the human cognitive system. All meaning-making tools are being used by fully expert and properly guided communication soldiers. They create and craft each article, writing peace, add, and news ticker, etc. by using semiotic theories that are being used in the West. They are trying to destabilize Pakistan through all possible means working to expand our faultlines and pitching our youth against our state institutions. Indian-funded Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) indoctrinated our youth that the Pakistan Army thinks only about its interests and that Pakistan’s judiciary does not give justice. Now both narratives are being promoted by PTI leaders, giving a moral justification to BLA and TTP handlers that their narrative against the state institutions of Pakistan is not unfounded.

Since war between states is now exceptionally rare, injecting violence within countries is a known tactic of creating or enhancing already present social and economic faultlines.

Dysfunctional administrative systems, un-proportionate population growth, and obsolete educational systems are helping enemies to expand faultlines within Pakistani society. Almost every country possesses immeasurable and at times dramatic social, economic, and political fault lines, and its enemies have the right to widen these fault lines if the country allows them to do so.

African and Middle Eastern countries are prime examples where ethnic, religious, sectarian, and social differences (fault lines) were used to intensify the process of their disintegration. The Rwandan genocide and Nigerian civil war, the Sudanese civil war, and the Darfur conflict can be considered prime examples in Africa while Libyan, Iraqi, and Syrian civil wars shaped sectarian differences. The Yemeni crisis is an example of the disintegration of society as well as the country through expanding ethnic and sectarian faultlines.

The Pakistan Army has always made sacrifices for the defense of its country. In today’s global situation where there are constant threats on Pakistan’s borders, our army must be strong. If we weaken our defense establishment, we will face global conspiracies like the Syrian regime, which will lead our country to destruction.

The strength and determination of Pakistan’s army is the guarantee of the country’s survival, and we must stand in complete solidarity with our army to counter every conspiracy of the enemies. To thwart the nefarious intentions of these enemies, we must continue to support our forces and expose those elements who are trying to make the institution controversial. We have to decide for ourselves whom we, as a nation, should support..? A safe and strong Pakistan is the guarantee of Pakistan’s stability and unity.

Injecting pessimism among youth

Our electronic media is playing a pivotal role in spreading doubts about state institutions and pessimism among youth that comprise over 65% of the total population. Social media has become a lethal weapon in the hands of our enemies that is a prime platform to fan hatred against state institutions and to divide the nation into groups. Now Pakistan looks divided into two main groups—– one group considers Imran Khan a man who is the only honest man left in Pakistan while another group wants to raise questions about the credibility of his rightfulness. If you question any action of Imran Khan, you are tagged as a liar, dishonest, working on a foreign agenda, and corrupt. Pakistani Youth is very promising and still fighting to survive under a dysfunctional social system and stand to fight for Pakistan. However, the only narrative that can compel the youth of any country to protect its motherland is weakening in Pakistan and that is “Respect for State institutions”.

The events taking place in Syria are a lesson for all other countries, particularly Pakistan where unrest and terrorism are weakening the stability of the country.