New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The killing of Hamza Burhan whose original name was Arjumand Gulzar Dar, dealt a major blow to the propaganda agenda of the Al Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir.

Burhan was killed in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) by unknown gunmen. Activity by the Pakistan-backed terrorist groups in J&K has almost come to naught and this has created a sense of desperation.

In a bid to radicalise the locals in the Valley, groups such as the Al Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been indulging in propaganda activity. While online propaganda continues, these groups are also focussing on poster campaigns in J&K.

Poster campaigns are nothing new in J&K. Most recently, propaganda posters had come up in Srinagar, which eventually led to the busting of the Faridabad module that undertook the Red Fort blast. The busting of the module also led to the seizure of 2,900 kilograms of ammonium nitrate.

An official said that Hamza who was designated a terrorist under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the Union Home Ministry in 2022 was an expert in poster propaganda.

He played a major role in creating and also distributing posters in J&K. Through his online propaganda channels he would urge the locals to prepare posters and paste them in various parts of Kashmir.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the Al Badr and Jaish-e-Mohammad used him extensively to prepare provocative posters. He was the one who suggested the wordings on the posters. Such posters have heavily been used as radicalisation and recruitment tools.

With Hamza dead, the propaganda war by these terror groups faces a major setback, officials say. The official added that his death also comes at a time when these terror groups were trying to increase propaganda through online channels and posters.

Another trait of Hamza’s that attracted the youth towards the ideology he would preach was his ability to glamorize terror. Apart from luring the youth, he was also capable of quickly spreading propaganda in the Valley. The propaganda push is far more dangerous when compared to on ground operations by terror groups. Such propaganda plays on the minds of the youth and they can very easily take up arms, another official explained.

Post the abrogation of Article 370, Hamza Burhan was actively involved in a digital campaign to psychologically influence the youth. Those who were lured by him would be told to paste posters at various locations. The content would revolve around the ill-effects of abrogating Article 370 and also the need to join terror outfits to battle against the so-called oppression by the state.

Apart from the Al Badr, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba’s proxy The Resistance Front, too, has extensively used posters to further propaganda and radicalise the youth.

The Resistance Front pasted posters threatening traders post the abrogation of Article 370. The posters ordered local fruit growers and businessmen to shut down their operations, failing which, they would be shot dead. The Hizbul Mujahideen had in Kulgam used adhesive tape to seal shops that resisted calls for strikes. They would then paste posters and mark it with LW, which meant Last Warning.

Hamza was also involved in a poster campaign in Srinagar where he called for a boycott of families of active J&K Police personnel.

Hamza’s death deals a major blow to terror groups who were planning to go all out on their narrative warfare campaign in J&K.

–IANS

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