Emerging Hate Narratives Surrounding India’s Developmental Project in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir is undergoing significant transformation as development and infrastructure projects are becoming the significant focus in the region combating its longstanding socio-economic challenges. With the aim of enhancing the modern infrastructure and a  pivot on holistic growth in the state turned UT, PM Modi has recently inaugurated the newly created Jammu Railway Division and the state of the art 6.5 Km Z-Morh tunnel in Sonamarg , Jammu and Kashmir, built at a cost of Rs. 2,700 crore.

In the aftermath of this news, Pakistan-based propaganda accounts turned active on social media platform X(formerly Twitter) and ran a series of hateful narratives against these visionary steps.

In this DFRAC’s Exclusive report, we are going to expose and debunk these hateful narratives against the infrastructural development of Jammu and Kashmir.

This report encapsulates the pointers like

What are these Hateful Narratives?

Malicious keywords used to spread the narrative

Freshly created account perpetuating these hateful narratives

Repeated propaganda accounts behind these narratives

Major languages used to spread the narratives

Shallow Media outlets promoting this hateful narrative

DFRAC’s Analysis of encountering these hateful narratives

What the Kashmiri CM Said?

What do Regional media outlets say?

Conclusion

Detailed Explanation of these pointers

 What are these Hateful Narratives?

The narratives on X, are devised as a calculated & sinister move to grab the land, erase the cultural identity, suppress dissent, solidify settler colonialism, violating international laws and introduce a network of informants to monitor & control the local population.

In DFRAC’s investigation, we came across various accounts operating from Pakistan, running this propaganda and misleading the netizens

Malicious keywords used to spread the narrative

Using Malicious Keywords in the narratives is such a powerful technique to make them ubiquitous in the digital landscape and helps in targeting the particular community. In DFRAC’s probe, we found that these accounts were employing some malicious keywords to amplify their hateful narratives. Words such as ‘Weaponizing Tourism’, alter Kashmir demography, demographic makeup, erasing Kashmir identity, demographic composition, marginalize locals and settler colonialism were frequently used in their tweets to further amplify the propaganda and to prove that the developmental projects would not be beneficial for the locals and region.

Freshly created account perpetuating these hateful narratives

While investigating these narratives, we found a freshly created account December 2024 on social media platform X(formerly Twitter) with the username @Tricolortales1. We observed a similar cross-paste pattern in the tweets and activities of this account. It shares posts and updates in a similar style to repeated propaganda handles along with anti-India propaganda including same malicious keywords.   

Interestingly, the account has been observed sharing some fake news on X.

Claim: The account shared an image of EAM S.Jaishankar holding a placard at Times Square, New York and requesting an invitation for Trump’s inauguration.

Fact: The image was found to be AI-generated.

Analysis: Ai-generated

Repeated propaganda accounts behind these narratives

Taking this probe further, we discovered that there are some repeated propaganda accounts such as Kashmir English and Hello Pakistan,  who are also contributing in the amplification of these hateful narratives on social media by employing provocative hashtags such as  #IIOJK , #Kashmirunderconflict, #Settlercolonialism, #Humanrights #JusticeforKashmir. 

DFRAC has done an extensive report on IIOJK hashtag that these propaganda accounts frequently use against Jammu and Kashmir. The link can be seen here.

Subsequently, these cyborg handles such as Erum, Zainab and Jabeen emerge on X and copy paste the content along with re-framing them to amplify the narratives further.

These handles are also actively involved in spreading fake news and misinformation on X.

Misinformation 1

On December 31, 2024, both handles shared an video showing luggage and some bags lying on the floor while the individual could be heard apologizing repeatedly.

On investigation, we found that the viral video was from 2019. Reports  from Hindustan Times, India Today and News 18 Hindi published in 2019 had confirmed that an embarrassing video of a group of Indian tourists stealing accessories from a hotel in Indonesia’s Bali has gone viral on social media

Evidently, the video is from 2019 which has been misleadingly shared by both of the handles recently.
Analysis: Misleading

Misinformation 2

A video has been shared by both cyborgs that claims about 545 million Indians defecate out in the open every day, which is 210 million more than the entire population of the United States.

Sharing this video, Erum wrote: “It’s ironic how a nation boasting about its engineers and tech experts can’t provide basic sanitation for half its population” Whereas, Jabeen claimed: “The reality of India’s “progress” is miles away from its PR campaigns. Engineers might be working in Silicon Valley, but millions back home lack toilets”

Fact-Check

The DFRAC team investigated this video and the claim made through it.
Firstly, we found that the shared video was available online since 9 years on YouTube. According to a report by Trading Economics that shows WHO’s data, only 11.1% of India’s population was still practicing open defecation in 2022.

Analysis: Misleading

Misinformation 3

On December 26, 2024 both handles shared a news alleging that Israel’s army has killed Indian Army Brigadier Amitabh Jha, who was stationed under the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights.

Fact-Check

The DFRAC team investigated this claim and found it to be false
Reports from various media outlets such as India Today and Deccan Herald confirmed that he had died due to medical reasons.

Analysis: Misleading

Misinformation 4

Cyborg Erum and Jabeen have shared a video showing a security personnel apprehending an individual with the claim that  an Indian named Bhuvesh Patel caught trying to ignite a fire in wildfire-hit Woodland Hills, California a region devastated by flames.

Fact-Check
On investigating the viral video, we found various reports citing that the individual shown in the viral video was Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva from Mexico, and not Bhuvesh Patel, an Indian.

Misinformation 5

Taking to X, Both cyborgs shared a opinion carrying a claim that alleged India has blocked the visas for Bangladeshi citizens.

Erum took to X and wrote: “Using visa policies as a weapon against Bangladesh is a shameful strategy. It shows how far India is willing to go to reassert dominance in the region. While Jabeen stated: “Denying visas to Bangladeshi citizens is not just about politics—it’s about eroding regional trust”

Fact-Check
Conducting a brief investigation on this claim, we found multiple media reports citing  the statement of MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal’s who asserted in a weekly media briefing that “We are issuing visas in limited manner for medical, emergency purposes. Once the situation becomes normal, law and order is restored, then we will begin our full-fledged operations of visa”.

Analysis: Misleading

Major languages used to spread the narratives

Language is a significant medium for reaching the narratives to the target audience. Using this medium efficiently is an another technique to spread the propaganda deliberately with its aim of generating anti-pathy in the digital landscape. Following the repeated accounts pattern, we stumbled upon the observation that the language used in these hateful narratives are generally English and Urdu. Consequently, these accounts are targeting  kashmiri locals by using urdu and reinstating their propaganda.

Shallow Media outlets promoting this hateful narrative

Media is playing a significant role in today’s digital landscape. Their extension to social media platforms have allowed them to deliver the information swiftly. Undoubtedly, there are some handles on social media platforms who fuel propaganda by disgusing themselves as media outlets. Not only this, but we found that X handles of media outlets operating from Pakistan also amplified these hateful narratives. These handles are nothing  but merely pretending to be a media outlets on X who have also shared these narratives.

We have tracked the Sharp Media Network sharing a fake news earlier also.

Claim: The account took to X and claimed that “In yet another display of state terrorism, Indian troops have martyred an innocent Kashmiri youth in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir”


Fact: According to reports from Deccan Herald, TOI and Business Standard, the security forces killed one terrorist after an encounter broke out in Jammu and Kashmir’s Dachigam forest. According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, a joint operation was launched with Indian army based on specific inputs in the upper mountain belts of the Harwan area of Srinagar.

Analysis: Misleading

DFRAC’s Analysis of encountering these hateful narratives

Upon conducting a brief analysis, we found several reports citing the information that counter this propaganda.
Various media outlets reported that the projects by Indian govt. such as  created Jammu Railway Division will improve infrastructure, create employment opportunities, and foster socio-economic growth
While inaugurating the division virtually, PM Modi said, “The new rail division at Jammu will create jobs, enhance trade and boost tourism. Today is a historic day. The railway division was a long pending demand of the people and today, it has been fulfilled”

Union Minister of State for Science and Tech Dr.Jitendra Singh expressed confidence in the project’s impact, noting that enhanced railway connectivity would open up new opportunities for businesses, boost tourism, and create jobs, particularly in rural areas. This is a historic day not only for Kashmir but for the entire nation. Integrating this region into India’s railway network will unlock unprecedented avenues for development and prosperity.

What the Kashmiri CM Said?

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah allayed fears of the people, saying that Jammu would not suffer losses due to the direct rail link to Kashmir.
Furthermore, he said the new rail division would create job opportunities. “With control and coordination based in Jammu, local recruitment will get priority.

What the Regional media outlets say?

Local media outlets operating from Kashmir also covered this events highlighting these developments and reporting its impact on the tourism and region.

Conclusion

Whenever the Indian government start any project for the modernization and development of the region, these accounts usually turn active and run a  hateful propaganda to mislead the netizens and tarnish India’s reputation on global level. However, their efforts would not be recognized since their frail narratives are often counter-attacked and debunked.