ISI's anti-India cyber hate army continues to swell

Sensing an opportunity to foment anti-India hatred in the backdrop of New DelhiOttawa tension, Pakistan's ISI has taken to social media and information highway in a big way, employing special teams that produce reels and songs in Punjabi with the aim of spreading fake news about the "ill-treatment of Sikhs in India".

- RAHUL CHHABRA

Sources in the Indian security set-up said that the ISI's Khalistan toolkit involves the creation of about three dozen social media accounts including those on WhatsApp, FB, Instagram, X-using its own agents spread across Pakistan and spreading false information about India and generate global support for "Khalistan" separatists.

Though the creators of these accounts are based in Pakistan, the followers of these accounts are Sikhs across the globe, said an official, adding that the names of accounts chosen by ISI's cyber army are such that these do not evoke the suspicion of unsuspecting Sikh devotees and believers.

Some of the social media accounts go by the names, Sikh Youth (WhatsApp account in Karachi), Sikh Community (FB account in Lahore) and Panth Prakash (WhatsApp account in Faisalabad). These accounts are regularly used for spreading false information about so-called atrocities against Sikhs in India.