OPINION: Shopian Rape Case: Weaponising Misinformation

From the smouldering battlefields in Ukraine to sporadic terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir, we live in a world marked by bloodshed and blogs. Mass media -- television, newspapers, twitter, blogs, WhatsApp and a whole lot of new communication tools, report on, and at times purposely provoke, such sordid developments. After all, we are living in the golden age of "fake news", and frequently end up as its unsuspecting victims, usually at a great social cost.

The mischief potential of this disturbing phenomenon came to fore once again recently, when the Jammu and Kashmir administration terminated the services of two doctors for allegedly "actively working" with Pakistan-based groups and fabricating evidence in the 2009 Shopian "rape-murder" case. The two medicos - Dr. Bilal Ahmad Dalal and Dr. Nighat Shaheen Chilloo -- were sacked for allegedly working at the behest of Pakistan.

The investigation, according to sources, revealed top echelon of the then government knew about the facts, which were conveniently buried, while Kashmir burnt for seven months. From June to December 2009, the Valley witnessed 42 strike calls by groups like Hurriyat, which resulted in widespread rioting. Around 600 minor and major law and order incidents occurred, the impact of which lasted till the next year. A total of 251 FIRs were registered in different police stations for rioting, stone pelting, arson, etc.

Seven civilians lost their lives and 103 were injured during these protests. Additionally, 29 police personnel and six paramilitary personnel suffered injuries. As per an estimate, Rs 6,000 crore worth of business was lost in those seven months. Above all, India's image as a civilised country suffered an enormous damage.

On May 29, 2009, Neelofar Jan, 22, and her 17-year-old sister-in-law Asiya Jan went missing after returning from their orchard in Bongam village of Shopian, some 50 km from Srinagar. The dead bodies of the two were found the next day in a shallow stream amid allegations that the two were "raped before being murdered by security forces" camped close to the area.

The then ruling Omar Abdullah-led State government had initially termed the incident as a case of drowning, but following manufactured public outcry, it constituted a one-man commission headed by (retired) Justice Muzaffar Jan to probe the case. The Commission pointed towards "foul play" saying that it was impossible for someone to drown in water level of ankle height in the stream where the bodies were recovered. It also indicted the police officials for dereliction of duty and had recommended reconstitution of the probe against them.

In August 2009, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe and found that the two women were never raped or murdered. The agency in December 2009 filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including the two doctors for "misleading the investigations and fabricating evidence about rape and murder." The ultimate aim of the two doctors, working in tandem with Pakistan, was to create disaffection against the Indian State by falsely accusing the security forces of rape and murder.

The CBI probe exposed the devious role of specific lawyers, doctors and others who subverted and obstructed justice. The CBI probe also revealed that the four police officers, including a district SP, who were arrested in the case, were actually falsely implicated. Yet, justice remained elusive as the local CBI counsel was threatened by terror outfits and their assets not to pursue the case.

The absence of the CBI's local counsel went unnoticed for a shocking period of around eight years and three months. The CBI counsel's absence helped the 13 accused (six doctors, five lawyers and two civilians), especially Dr. Nighat, to escape the law and saved them from being tried for creating false evidence.

The Shopian 'rape' case fabrication and its aftermath were all parts of the insidious tool-kit, which Commies, Jihadis and evangelists frequently use to vilify the Hindu society and run down India.

The same phenomenon -- of painting the town red, using a manufactured narrative -- was in action during the BJP leader Nupur Sharma's episode. On May 27, 2022, a self-proclaimed fact-checker Mohammad Zubair cleverly edited Nupur's TV debate video clip and posted it on the Internet. Thanks to the global Commie-Jihadi networking, it was viral world over in no time. None questioned or discussed the contents of what she had said.

An avalanche followed. Editorial writers went berserk -- used millions of words to demonise Nupur. It was lynch mindset at its peak. A total of nine FIRs, in quick succession, were filed against her in different parts of the country. Subsequently, they were clubbed by Supreme Court. There were global protests, particularly in Islamic nations.

Nupur started getting rape and death threats. Violent protests broke out in many cities with raising of slogans like "Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek saza, sar tan se juda." Two brutal murders, one each in Udaipur and Amravati, four fatal assaults and death threats followed. Poor Nupur had just repeated what Islamic scholars keep saying all the time in their religious discourses. But such is the mischief potential of 'fake news' and the resulting venomous narrative, that hapless Nupur continues to be in hiding, fearing for her life.

Through Karnataka Hijab issue (2021-22), divisive forces successfully pushed their agenda to paint India "intolerant" in the global arena and demonise BJP/RSS as anti-Muslim, fascist and insinuate that the Muslim women were being forced to give up Hijab as a part of Sangh Parivar's diabolical plan to eventually create a Hindu Rashtra. Interestingly, what Karnataka was doing then, its immediate neighbour Kerala had already done, and no questions were asked.

The 'toolkit' used by this 'hate India' pack frequently resorts to half-truths and total lies to push its diabolical agenda. Way back in 2002, when the Gujarat riots broke following the burning of 59 Kar Sevaks coming back from Ayodhya, Arundhati Roy, a well-known writer with pronounced Leftist bias, wrote a long article in the weekly Outlook (May 6, 2002) giving a vivid description of the horror of riots.

Arundhati's Outlook account of riots, moving and vivid, however, was a complete fiction, based on her imagination -- a typical toolkit performance. In a subsequent rejoinder (Outlook, May 27, 2002), I conclusively called her bluff. However, the Jihadi-Commie pack continued with their relentless tirade to demonise Narendra Modi, on the basis of a manufactured account of riots. Their misadventures were put paid finally by the apex court of the country.

A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravi Kumar delivering a judgment on June 24, 2022, observing: "At the end of the day, it appears to us that a coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the State along with others was to create sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge. The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT... Intriguingly, the present proceedings have been pursued for (the) last 16 years... including with the audacity to question the integrity of every functionary involved in the process of exposing the devious stratagem adopted (to borrow the submission of learned counsel for the SIT), to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design... All those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law."

On March 12, 1993, Mumbai was hit by a series of 12 bomb blasts. Sharad Pawar, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, rushed to the Doordarshan studio and announced that there were 13 blasts -- the 13th one was 'invented' by him -- to show that Muslims also had suffered in the attacks, engineered by Hindus. Later, to underline his 'secular' credentials, Pawar unabashedly admitted his lie.

Subsequently, UPA Home Ministers P. Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde made repeated efforts to build a paradigm of 'Hindu terror'. The 26/11 terror attack (2008) in Mumbai was sought to be pasted on the RSS and to create a bogey of 'Hindu terror'. However, the arrest of Ajmal Kasab put paid to their diabolical plan.

Misinformation and hate speech are weapons of war. The landscape, in which we operate, is more hazardous today, any time in memory, for its heavily laid with land mines of clever sophistry, half-truths and white lies. The Indian security forces, combatting insurgents in various parts of the country, particularly in North East and Kashmir valley, are not only facing terrorists and criminal groups but also a host of foreign inspired cliques, who have a vested interest in perpetuating the chaos in which they thrive.

The weapons they wield are not just guns and bombs. Their arsenal also includes misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. Disinformation isn't just misleading, it's dangerous and deadly, fuels violence against the innocent. They have global expertise in using these (mis)communication tools to achieve their ends.

It's through this crooked narrative that Pakistan and their side-kicks in Kashmir managed to change the perception of our tricolour in the Valley from that of security, peace and prosperity it represents into a target of attack. The recent Shopian incident has once again brought under focus the mischief potential of manufactured narratives, laced with toxicity.

(Mr. Balbir Punj is a Former Member of Parliament and a Columnist. He can be reached at: [email protected])

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.