Kashmir Inc: a Conflict Industry

To read the full story, please download the pdf here

The Kashmir story is the story of few interconnected stories viz.

• The Kashmir conflict has become a ‘family business’ run by set of families, and like a family business is passed on from one generation to the next generation.

• The way the conflict is designed, it has generated growing number of stakeholders from set of families to the Gora politicians to the Pakistani establishment in a manner, that it would be useful for them to keep the conflict in the perpetual flux.

• The Kashmir narrative is a globally sponsored narrative, where every so-called human-rights ‘concern’ on Kashmir is at the end connected with a nexus, put in place by the Pak establishment.

• Kashmir has become everyone’s concern except of Kashmiris. There are virtually no Kashmiris with any worthwhile connection with Kashmir involved in the discussion of Kashmir. If there were, they have been side-lined.

• The centre of gravity for Kashmir narrative has gradually shifted from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) to Thrace & Asia Minor (Turkey)

This change in 2016 has salient ramifications for the conflict narrative in South Asia. However, the story traces its origin back to key players when the seeds of conflict were sown in Kashmir by Jamaat-e-Islami players; and it has continued to be played by the same set of people through their next generation.

A star is born on the horizon of Kashmir.

Growing up in London, and having rarely visited Kashmir, this young star is groomed to become the face of Kashmir resistance in the next phase – when terrorism, which was espoused as an instrument by his father, is now being replaced by Psy-war.

He is supposed to lead that war.

He has been a low profile all his life and has been talking about Kashmir only as a token, if at all. His knowledge of Kashmir and Kashmiris is shallower than the Yamuna in Delhi summers. And yet, come the year 2016, he springs into action, establishing not one or two but several companies/ organizations – all in the name of Kashmir.

His love for Kashmir seems to have been rekindled by two important events – his marriage to a Pakistani Khatoon and the patronage of a former ISI Chief. Once the love is rekindled, resources start flooding on their own, at least that’s how miracles happen.

All of this since around 2015 – 2016.

Several seemingly unrelated events took place in around 2015-2016 in the Indian subcontinent viz.:

1. The government of India cancelled the registration of 18,868 NGOs between 2011-17 for the violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 and Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011. The Government also tightened FCRA rules as a result of which the foreign funding that non-profits in India received in 2016-’17 fell by Rs 11,274 crore (from Rs 17,773 crore in 2015-’16 to Rs. 6,499 crore).

This money has to find new avenues.

• Pakistan Senate publishes a report ^[1] on Kashmir on October 3, 2016 which, among other things, envisages engaging global lobbying groups, and reactivate all lobbying firms to change the global narrative of Kashmir against India.

• A number of ‘White Experts’/ Human Rights champions suddenly pop up critical of various ‘failings’ of India, including that on Kashmir. A number of new organizations also mushroom, precisely around these issues. These experts including CJ Werleman, Audrey Truschke, Anthea McIntyre, Danielle Alice Khan, Sehla Ashai etc. Likewise, a number of global organizations also pop up expressing concerns over India’s various issues from humanities to minority rights to Dalit rights to Kashmir including the Polis Project, Equality Lab, Justice for Kashmir and so forth.

The year 1989 is considered a watershed, after which the armed militancy peaked in Kashmir. However, as this report shows, the preparations started way earlier. The increased activities of Jamaat and its offshoots in Kashmir were a major catalyst. Many scholars/ area experts believe that it started right with the partition.

The conflict nonetheless has also changed strategies, with time and likely under influence of people at helm. And in this series of changes, the most recent ‘upgrade’ seems to be the 5^th generation warfare started by Pakistan, and with surging popularity of social media, it needed new faces and fronts, preparations of which seems to have started right with the at the dawn of new millennium, with periodic upgradation in arsenal. In this context, the year 2015-2016 are of much significance, where we see not only significant investments in ‘boosting’ the profile and stature of existing ‘assets’, but also roping in a number of fresh ‘assets’ to push their narrative against India, a project which seems to be peaking by 2019. Coinciding  with the facts noted at the beginning of chapter, by 2015 Ghulam Nabi Fai, who was released from jail in 2013 but was keeping a low profile, starts getting active again.

The pattern of engagements tells their own story: an American ‘tourist’ Danielle arrives in Kashmir, marries a Kashmiri and becomes an ‘activist’, critical of India. ‘Activist – Journalist’ CJ Werleman has been active since 2009, but his first ‘awareness’ of Kashmir issue comes only in 2016. Audrey Truchke’s, who is also active for many years on social media, first mention of Kashmir comes in late 2015, and in 2016 her controversial book ‘Aurangzeb’ arrives. Anthropologist Haley Duschinski joins the Kashmir bandwagon in 2016.

A number of ‘activism’ organizations start popping around the time: from The Polis Project (minorities rights) to Equality Labs (Dalit rights) and by 2019 Kashmir-Khalistan Referendum Front – all in the US, all led by people essentially groomed in US – a pattern found for Kashmiri activists as well.

Kashmiri ‘activists’ Hafsa Kanjwal and Ather Zia starts getting traction on social media, and space in mainstream news media, and between 2016-19 becomes the foremost experts and ‘brand ambassadors’ of Kashmir cause. The list goes on and on. However, the clearest example however remains Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur.

As noted above, plethora of organizations set up in the USA & UK in the name of Kashmir from 2015-16. In the UK alone, six new organizations were registered between 2016-2019 in the name of Kashmir by one individual – Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur.

Who is Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur? 

Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur is a UK citizen currently living in London. He was born in Saudi Arabia and moved to London when his father Ayyub Thakur shifted base to UK on a Fellowship. In London, he pursued his degree in finance and economics, especially Islamic finance. After completing his education, Muzzammil started a company Kashmir Inc. Limited (07353812) in partnership with Mehreen Amjad on August 23, 2010. Thakur, however, resigned from the company only after a few months on January 4, 2011. The company Kashmir Inc is still active with Mehreen Amjad on its board as Director. There was a lull since then.

Beginning 2016, he started setting up several companies in the UK and elsewhere in the name of Kashmir. A list of companies registered by Thakur are as follows:

• World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM)– Formed on October 25, 2016 with company number 10444828.
• The Justice Foundation- Formed on October 19, 2016 with company number 10436843. Key people are Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur & Dr. Sanaah Sultan.
• Kashmir House- Formed on August 21, 2017 with company no. Company number 10924615 and Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur as only Director.
• The Kashmir Centre- Formed on August 14, 2017 with Company number 10914625 Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur is the only active office and currently serving as Director.
• The Kashmir Company Inc Ltd.– Formed on September 14, 2018 with Company number 11569221. Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur is the only active officer.
• Adam and Bryson Limited– Formed on March 9, 2020 with company no. 12505979. Muzzammil resigned from the company on December 1, 2020.
• Kashmir Inside Ltd.– Formed on December 19, 2016 with company no. 07353812, Kashmir Inside Ltd. was a magazine company. The company stands dissolved (on May 29, 2018) at present date.

To understand the ‘inspiration’ and resources for this burst of activities, the story needs to trace its roots – to 1970s to his father Dr. Ayyub Thakur.

Muhammad Ayyub Thakur

Muhammad Ayyub Thakur (b:1948) was a Kashmiri separatist, hailing from Pudsoo village, near Shopian in the Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir. During his student days at Kashmir University, Ayyub Thakur was active in student politics, and became the President of Kashmir University Research Scholar’s Association. He eventually completed his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Kashmir, becoming the first nuclear physicist from Kashmir. In 1978, he became lecturer in the Department of Physics at the same university. He briefly worked at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1978.

Aside from his work with Kashmir University Research Scholar’s Association, Thakur also founded Jammu and Kashmir Students Islamic Organisation in 1974 which later merged with another organization and became Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, which he headed until 1981.

Ayyub Thakur was dismissed from his service at Kashmir University in August 1980 because of political activism while working in the Government service, and imprisoned for five months. Immediately after his release, at the invitation of Gulam Nabi Fai, his friend cum associate at Kashmir University, Ayyub Thakur moved to Jeddah in 1981 where with Fai’s help he became the Faculty of Engineering in the Department of Nuclear Physics. Subsequently, he shifted to the UK in 1986, on a Fellowship arranged by his friend Fai.

Fai, Thakur & Kashmir

Fai and Thakur had started their Kashmir activism during their association with Jamaat-e-Islami. It is not clear whether Fai was already engaged by the ISI during that time, or was he doing it of his own will. The duo envisaged and strategized to ‘internationalize’ the Kashmir issue. They decided to target 50 to 60 foreign students who enrolled at the Kashmir University, Regional Engineering College, and Government Medical College. The plan was to convince the foreign students to become ‘unpaid ambassadors’ of the ‘Kashmir cause’. During this time, Ghulam Nabi Fai managed to get the Imam of the holy mosque at Makkah to attend the Seerat Conference in Kashmir. This was also evidence of the level of liaison and influence which Fai had managed to cultivate with the Saudi authorities. An influence he would use to get his friend Ayyub Thakur to Saudi in 1980s, and get him a job.

Ayyub Thakur in UK

In 1986 Ayyub Thakur decided to leave King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) and move to England. Soon after arrival, Dr. Thakur, along with Advocate Hassam-ud-Din, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Syed Munawar Hussain Mashhadi, Moulana Tufail Mohammad, late Khurram Jha Murad, and Fai started brainstorming on how to channel energy for the Kashmir cause. The “International Institute of Kashmir Studies” was subsequently established as a result of that brainstorming at Leicester in 1987, with Hassam-ud-Din as its founding Director. Having landed in the UK, Ayyub Thakur went on to set up several organizations, a feat his son would emulate three decades later.

Ayyub Thakur founded three companies: World Kashmir Freedom Movement (1990), charity organization Mercy Universal (2000), and The Justice Foundation/Kashmir Centre (2003).  Dr. Thakur also established a press agency with Advocate Hassam-Uddin as “Kashmir Press International” in Birmingham, England in 1988.

Dr. Thakur passed away on March 10, 2004, due to Pulmonary Fibrosis, and left a business legacy that his son inherited in the coming years.

I. World Kashmir Freedom Movement

World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM) was a London-based umbrella organization, formed on 17 June 1990. The motive behind setting up the organization was to promote the ‘Kashmir cause’ internationally. Dr. Ayyub Thakur served as the president of WKFM and other offices setup across Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. WKFM started mobilizing public opinion for the Kashmir cause at major capitals of the world, including London, Vienna, Geneva, Oslo, Washington, etc.

It also matched with the timeline when Fai established its American equivalent, the Kashmiri American Council (KAC). (see next chapter)

WKFM might have been based in the UK, it had officially taken shape in Washington DC with the patronage of Ghulam Nabi Fai. WKFM held its first international conference in Washington in 1991, followed by series of conferences in Istanbul (in 1993), and UK (in 1995). At the WKFM first International Conference on July 13, 1991, in Washington, the guest speakers’ list included Senator Mushahid Hussain.

Note: Senator Hussain is the person who chaired Pakistani Parliamentary Committee Report in 2016, mentioned at the beginning of this report.

WKFM was later re-incorporated by Ayyub Thakur’s son in 2016.

II. Justice Foundation

The Justice Foundation was set up in 2003 by Ayyub Thakur, but within a year he passed away. After his death on March 10, 2004, Ghulam Nabi Fai took over the leadership of Justice Foundation alongside his close acquaintance, Professor Nazir Ahmad Shawl as Director. During 2011, when FBI issued an affidavit ^[2] against Fai, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Shawl (Executive Director) was active in the UK circuit and was attending events with Pak leaders and Kashmiri separatists. 

Interestingly, Harsh Mander, former IAS officer and Director of Centre for Equity Studies was also one of the advisors of The Justice Foundation ^[3] (details now removed from website). Worth noting that Mander’s name had also appeared in the earlier story on USCIRF (Un-ending War-II) ^[4] in the context of fabricated database of minority atrocities in India was being peddled through DOTO and Quill Foundation. Mander was in the Advisory Board of Quill Foundation. DOTO is also partners with Justice For All (powered by Sound Vision) ^[5], a Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan affiliate, which has successfully lobbied with USCIRF to get India designated as ‘country of particular concern’.

III. Mercy Universal

Registered in 2000 by Ayyub Thakur ^[6]  and its current board members include Javed Iqbal Aziz, Dr. A Hussain, Atif Hussain and Nazir Ahmed. Mercy International was also alleged to be the front used by Ayyub Thakur for funding militants and separatists.

Ayyub Thakur’s Terror Links

While on the face of it Ayyub Thakur was ‘lobbying’ for Kashmir cause, he allegedly also provided significant support to terror activities against India, channelling ISI funds to Kashmir through various of his fronts and affiliates. Thakur was alleged to funnel funds to militant organizations in J&K via his charity organization “Mercy Universal”. ^[7]

In June 2002, J&K police arrested a businessman Imtiaz Ahmed Bazaz on the charges of funneling funds sent by Ayyub Thakur from the UK to Kashmiri separatists including Asiya Andrabi and her organization Dukhtaran-e-Millat. During his interrogation, Bazaz confessed to contacting Ayyub Thakur for channelling funds sent by Pakistan’s ISI. In response, Ayyub Thakur claimed he had sent the money for purchasing sewing machines for the women of Kashmir.

However, while Ayyub Thakur might have denied his role, his son Muzzammil seems to have a different opinion.  During an interview with a J&K based media channel ‘Only Kashmir’ (in 2015) he admitted that his father “funded terrorism in Kashmir” and that he also believed it was justified as “Jihad”. ^[8]

Ghulam Nabi Fai is the fulcrum of ISI’s Kashmir operations. Every single thread on the Kashmir issue, which originates from Pakistan, eventually reaches him. His stature and role are so extensive and deep that the Pak establishment has failed to find a credible alternative to Fai, despite him being exposed as an agent. It would be no exaggeration to say that Fai at present is more of a liability in terms of Information Warfare regarding Kashmir because of his expose and his arrest. However, his utility apparently outweighs his liability which is why the top Pakistani leadership including PM Imran Khan to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi continues to engage him, despite the obvious embarrassment that it carries with it. This is one of the key reasons why Fai and Pak establishment are preparing to pass on the muster to the next generation of their families who would carry on the business of Kashmir.

Fai: The Early Years

Ghulam Nabi Fai is a Kashmir-origin USA citizen and an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). He was born in April 1949 in Badgam district of J&K. He is a MA pass-out of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). In 1977 Fai moved to Umm-Al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on special recommendation of Moulana Tarabali of Jamaat-e-Islami.

In between, he also cultivated relations with Saudi Embassy in India. But by that time he already came under the notice of the Indian agencies, so he left India in 1981 with the help of the Saudi Consulate via Mumbai. Saudi Minister of Education, who was in-charge of the King Faisal Foundation, granted Fai a scholarship to pursue Ph.D. in Mass Communication at the Temple University in Philadelphia. And during his time in USA, Fai also became the national acting President of Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) and also became a full-time member of ISNA (linked to Muslim Brotherhood).

Subsequently, Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, founder of banned terror-outfit SIMI, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and batchmate of Fai at Aligarh Muslim University and Temple University, would also join the same course. Fai also invited Ayyub Thakur to the US where they contemplated the idea of establishing a worldwide organization for the ‘Kashmir cause’.

Note: It is worth noting that both SIMI and J&K Islamic Jamaat-e-Tulba, (both banned at present) were formed in 1977 [9]. Coincidentally, the Chairman of Sound Vision Abdul Malik Mujahid was also the leader of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (Pakistan) between 1975-77. In 1977, the USA circuit also observed a new development as it saw the reincarnation of Halqa-e-Ahbab-e-Islami (HAI) into Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

Fai and Friends: Fai, Ayyub & Siddiqi 

Fai’s friendship with Muhammad Ayyub Thakur goes back to their Kashmir days. Apart from sharing Jamaat connection (and as revealed subsequently, ISI connections), both Fai and Ayyub Thakur were trained by former All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Their progress has also been on parallel tracks. Both Fai and Thakur established respective networks on Kashmir in USA and UK. However, at least from ISI’s point of view, their roles differed slightly – while Fai engaged himself in the US in building lobby networks, ISI allegedly used Thakur also for channeling funds to Kashmir.

Fai eventually became the Director of one of Ayyub Thakur’s companies ‘The Justice Foundation’^[10] after he passed away in 2004 and remained Director until its dissolution on January 13, 2015. Incidentally, The Justice Foundation was re-registered ^[11] by Ayyub Thakur’s son Muzzammil Thakur in 2016.

Fai is also known to be good friends with Dr. Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, the founder of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned terrorist organization. Both Fai and Siddiqi studied together at Aligarh Muslim University and subsequently at the Temple University in Philadelphia. ^[12] Siddiqi presently heads an organization – Sound Vision, which is a Jamaat-e-Islami front. Sound Vision sponsors Justice for All, which is an umbrella organization, under which several other fronts are operating such as Save India, Burma Task Force, Free Kashmir, etc. Their core agenda is to collect funds in the name of Zakaat and other social issues and natural calamities, use the fund to engage lobbyists in the US and Europe to target India. It has also played a significant role in cultivating senior officials at USCIRF. ^[13]

Note: The Government of India banned SIMI (founded in 1977) in 2001 just after the 9/11 incident took place in USA. The ban was revoked in 2008 but was reinstated in 2008 on the grounds of national security.

Fai and ISI

On April 13, 1990, Fai registered a company “Kashmiri American Council” (KAC) as its Executive Director. Fai was earning a salary of $40K per year from Kashmiri American Council during the 1990s in return for his services. ^[14]

KAC was central to ISI’s plan for pursuing Pakistan’s Kashmir agenda. Apart from Fai, KAC office bearers included Mohammad Akram Dar as Secretary-Treasurer, Dr M. Yousuf Fazili, Dr. Safia Qadri, and Ghulam Hassan Bhat.

The USA government declared KAC as an ISI front in 2011 and arrested Fai for not disclosing his affiliation with a foreign intelligence agency.

Special FBI officer Sarah Webb Linden filed a case (No. 1:11MJ558) against Fai and Zaheer Ahmed (Pakistan) in the United States District Court on July 28, 2011. As per the court filing, Zaheer Ahmed constantly sent money to Fai since 1997. Fai was later arrested for two years for violating Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Zaheer Ahmed died due to brain hemorrhage in Pakistan within a few months of this expose. To borrow ‘House of Cards’ phrase, it was rather convenient.

Fai was arrested on July 19, 2011 for concealing the transfer of $3.5 million from ISI to KAC. Fai used to organize conferences under the aegis of KAC for various ‘human rights’ issues in Kashmir. However, as revealed subsequently, these conferences/ seminars were the platforms for ISI to cultivate people to push its agenda on Kashmir.

The document also mentioned Fai’s connection in the UK with at least two companies i.e., The Justice Foundation – Kashmir Centre headed by Nazir Ahmad Shawl and Kashmir Centre Brussels headed by Abdul Majeed Tramboo.

Professor Shawl is the chairman of Kashmir Concern – Great Britain. He was also the director of “The Justice Foundation” alongside Fai till it was dissolved in 2015. Both Fai and Shawl were active in the UK circuit attended events with Pak leaders and Kashmir separatists.^[15]  

Abdul Majeed Tramboo is a lawyer specializing in International human rights, immigration, and asylum with experience of over 38 years. He is known to be a close acquaintance of late Dr. Ayyub Thakur. Tramboo is currently the Executive Director of two companies in the UK: The Kashmir Foundation International (No. 03160260) founded on May 21, 1996; & MT-UK Solutions (No. 10985166) formed on September 27, 2017. ^[16]

After Fai’s arrest, suspicions naturally fell on several ‘activists’ and ‘human rights advocates’ for their association with Fai. A most convenient excuse that was offered by many was that they were not aware of Fai’s actual motives. And while this might as well be true for some, a number of Fai’s friends from before his arrest have started reappearing with him again, after what seems to be a sanitization exercise for Fai. Some of these names, particularly those of Indian origin, would be discussed in the subsequent chapters. ^[17]

Before his arrest, Fai organized conferences on Kashmir “self-determination” where he invited white-collared officials, and journalists from Pakistan, India and USA. From India, among others, eminent personalities like Late Dileep Padgaonkar, Harinder Baweja, Late Ved Bhasin (then Chairman, Kashmir Times group); Angana Chatterji, Professor of Anthropology; activists Rita Manchanda & Gautam Navlakha attended the conferences. ^[18]

There were several companies set up in the US surrounding Kashmir issue. Surprisingly, almost all of these companies are either opened by Fai or one of the people associated with the same nexus. A key organization is World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF) is an Ohio-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (no. 1536752) founded in 2005, and claims to focus on “providing information on Kashmir and advocating for Kashmiris in the region and throughout the Diaspora”. The WKAF engages in advocacy efforts with diplomatic, civic, religious, human rights, political organizations, including the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council, and Amnesty International. It was founded by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Mir, who is a Gastroenterologist based in Akron, Ohio.

Born and raised in Thandipora, Kashmir Dr. Mir’s activism began at age 16, as the organizer of the Sopore chapter of the Kashmiri Students and Youth League. Having studied medicine from Government Medical College of J&K (class of 1970), he emigrated in 1974 to the US on a fellowship of Wayne State School of Medicine (1978-80).

Dr. Mir was also the founding Chairman of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) ^[19] ISNA is an umbrella organization that has proven connections with terror outfits like Hamas. It also works closely with organizations that were either banned/or still banned such as ISNA Canada and Holy Land Foundation. ISNA is allegedly linked with Muslim Brotherhood. (Refer to our COVID AID SCAM-1 report) ^[20]

Dr. Mir’s son Aimen Nabi Mir is a two-time President of Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA) ^[21], which is the youth wing of ISNA. Moreover, Aimen Mir also served as the Staff Chairperson of Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) between 2009-14.^[22] He was appointed by then USA President Barrack Obama.

Dr. Mir is also the founding co-chair of the Northeast Ohio Jewish-Muslim Dialogue alongside Temple Israel, and Secretary General and President of the London-based WKFM of Ayyub Thakur. ^[23]

Ghulam Nabi Fai is currently the Secretary General of WKAF and other board members who were or still on the board are: Mohammad Akram Dar (Treasurer), Abdul Rauf Mir (Board Member), Khalid J Qazi and Imtiaz A. Khan. ^[24]

Fai withdraws $20K per year from WKAF as ‘compensation’, as per the tax returns filed by WKAF in 2019.^[25] It is to be noted that Fai was getting $40K per annum as remuneration from KAC. It is quite peculiar that no board member receives any salary except him.

Dr. Fai was released in Nov 2013 after serving for 16 months in the jail. After his release, Fai stayed low for two years before re-activating his circle of network from 2015-16. The very first public event Fai attended was that of Million Man March in 2015. There, he raised the issue of Kashmir and even urged the Indian government to facilitate the travel documents of Kashmiri separatist leaders to participate in the event. ^[26]

Pakistan Govt’s Effort to Rehab Fai

Pak govt. has been making efforts to rehabilitate Fai in the Kashmir circle. Apart from organizing various events through its channel, senior Pak govt functionaries have also been showing their presence with Fai to normalize his ISI linkages. Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi met Ghulam Nabi Fai in New York in May 2021. ^[27]

Earlier, Pak PM Imran Khan met Ghulam Nabi Fai along with other Kashmiri leaders on September 23, 2019. ^[28] Other attendants at the event were Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to UN Maleeha Lodhi. ^[29]

An Honorable Crowd

His most recent event (as Director of KAC) was with another organization ‘Friends of Kashmir’ (FOK) in 2020, ^[31] which was hosted by Global Pakistan & Kashmir Supreme Council. Friends of Kashmir (FOK) is a US-based non-political organization which is yet another advocacy group. (see Part II). Notable names that featured in the event included “AJK President” Sardar Masood Khan, Senator Raja Zafar Ul Haq, Raja Najabat Hussain, Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Self Determination Movement International, and former Lord Nazir Ahmed. ^[32]  

The level of concern for Kashmir could be exemplified by participation of Lord Nazir Ahmed.

Nazir is a British citizen of Pakistani origin and a former Peer of the House of Lords. He was accused of sexually assaulting Kashmiri women, who approached him for help, asking them to ‘spend a night’ with him. ^[33] He was also charged with attempted rape and indecent assault of minors.^[34] He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, and was disqualified from driving for 12 months for rash driving which killed one person in accident. He also tried to justify Taliban, claiming that some Pakistani officials had attacked Malala Yousufzai to malign Taliban. He was subsequently compelled to resign from House of Lords. It was the first time that a peer of the House of Lords was ever recommended for expulsion.

Generation I

These individuals and the fronts created by them since 1970s could be called the first generation of psy-war in the name of Kashmir. As shown, the center of gravity remained Fai, the convicted ISI agent, and this also means that the Kashmiri agenda has remained a plank for Pakistan to push its own interests at global stage.

However, with time the environment changes, and the ‘oldies’ may not be the most efficient operatives for psy-war in the age of social media, and hence there was need to pass the baton. What makes Kashmir story even murkier is that the State agenda gets overlapped with family interests, as the next generation of ‘Kashmiri’ leaders all happen to be the children of the actors from the first generation.

If one were to glean through the present discourse, a set of names – individuals and organizations – keep appearing, talking about the Kashmir issue. On the face of it, these individuals representing different organizations would appear as a set of people ‘concerned with the human rights’. However, digging deeper it becomes obvious that most of the individuals and their organizations are a legacy that was passed on to them. Most of the organizations which were created by their parents (mostly fathers) have been handed down to children. And the fathers who all belong to just one network – Fai.

As is the case with Politics, Bollywood, and Business fraternity, Kashmir is also a family business that is carried forward as a profit-earning enterprise to the next generations to live and thrive on. The business model is so profitable that the next few generations would not meet to work any other job. Unlike ordinary families, where the children study subjects that could help them acquire a respectful earning, fraternity of particular kind prepares its progenies from the beginning to take over the muster that would be inherited. This is evident in the transition from generation 1 to generation 2 in the Kashmir theatre. The star of this transition is Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur, mentioned in the ‘Introduction’.  

Muzzammil Thakur S/o Ayyub Thakur

As noted earlier, Muzzammil Thakur ‘came of age’ on the Kashmir issue in 2016 when all of a sudden he started getting space in several prominent media. Before that, his views/opinions didn’t find any traction even on social media, leave alone on the prominent media. Neither he had any substantial information nor any understanding of the Kashmir issue. During one of the early exposers that Thakur Jr. got was a TV debate on TRT World with a prominent Indian journalist Suhasini Haidar.^[35] However, his lack of understanding even on the basic premises of Kashmir issue was rather baffling, given the fact that his father spent his life on this issue. This fact, therefore, becomes all the more important as to how Muzzammil Thakur started getting so much space on the Kashmir issue.  

Three major developments took place in 2016: A seminar, The Kashmir Companies, and The Media Appearances. Incidentally, the year was also an important one for personal life of Thakur Jr. On March 19, 2016, Muzzammil Thakur got married to Shaista Safi, daughter of Ghulam Muhammad Safi, who has served as the local convener of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Muzaffarabad, PoK.^[36] He was considered as one of the prominent faces on the Pak side of APHC and even served as the leader of APHC Rawalpindi chapter. He was later appointed by Pak authorities to represent APHC on behalf of SAS Geelani, when later refused to acknowledge him and instead anointed one of his loyals. Geelani accused the PoK branch (led by Safi) of financial misappropriation. 

Shaista Safi is a lobbyist at Youth for Kashmir (YFK)–  ‘International Kashmir Lobby Group’. As per its official website, YFK- International Kashmir Lobby Group is Pakistan’s first (sic) pro-Kashmir, registered and non-partisan international lobbying group led by young Kashmiris and Pakistanis. Other members of YFK include Ahmed Quraishi (Executive Director), Ghulam Shabbir (social media in-charge) and Zaman Bajwa (Lobbyist) ^[37]. One of the web-archives of YFK’s website from 2017 states that they “lobby for Kashmir and even provide training and grooming to Pakistanis, Turks, Iranians, Americans, Chinese, Indians and others for raising the voice on Kashmir”.^[38] YFK was founded by Muhammad Mia Soomro ^[39] former acting President of Pakistan (2008) and caretaker PM of Pakistan between 2007-08. He also served as Chairman of Pakistan Senate between 2003-2009.

• The Seminar

An event is organized by Pakistan House in association with the Centre for Strategic and Contemporary Research (CSCR) on August 2, 2016, where Muzzammil Thakur was one of the key speakers who spoke on the subject “Power of Speech & Social Media: Diaspora Perspective”. ^[40]

This event was very significant, not in the lest because of its organizers.

Established in 2014, CSCR is a policy institute based in Islamabad that ‘projects strategic foresight rooted in academia’ on issues of significance for the civil society stakeholders, the policy makers, and the state officials. The organizer of this event was Pakistan House, which was established in 2012 as an ‘Independent Think-tank’ based in Islamabad that strives to promote the soft image of Pakistan.

Pakistan House is chaired by General Ehsan Ul Haq, former Director General ISI between 2001-04. Prior to that, he was Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) from 1999-2001. Other board members of Pakistan House include retired Pak Army and Defense officials.^[41] At present, Muzzammil is still seen attending events organized by Pakistan establishment.^[42]

• The Companies

As noted in the beginning, numerous companies/organizations were established by Muzzammil Thakur beginning 2016. That included reviving two of his fathers’ companies that had become inactive ^[43] after his death in 2004 – viz World Kashmir Freedom Movement ^[44] on October 25, 2016; and The Justice Foundation ^[45] on October 19, 2016, with Dr. Sanaah Sultan. In addition, Muzzammil also set up several new fronts – all in the name of Kashmir, in the next few years.

• The Media Launch

It appears that Muzzammil’s debut on the Kashmir stage was crafted on par with a Bollywood scion. Starting in 2016, his interview first gets published in the Turkish news ‘World Bulletin’ on January 2^[46], which was further amplified by the Pak Embassy in Turkey on Feb 4, 2016. As noted above, he also started appearing on ‘TV debates’ on Kashmir issue along with established personalities without himself having any significant credibility, or even understanding of the topic. That interview was amplified by the Pakistan Embassy of Turkey on February 4, 2016.^[47] His subsequent media articles and their ‘popularity’ tell their own story.

Different Stories for Different Audience?

After the fiasco of his debate and seeing his lack of depth, it seems Thakur was given some crash-course on the narrative building, as his activities slow down between 2016-2018, after the event at Pakistan House.

In his re-appearance since 2018, Muzzammil Thakur has been calibrating his Kashmir outlook depending upon the audience. When interacting with Pak media, he talks about “Kashmir being part of Pakistan”; Pakistan being the elder brother; and whatever Kashmir/Kashmiris have to talk about, they will talk with Pakistan.^[48] A narrative that the Pak establishment has been feeding to its people since eternity.  

However, when interacting with foreign media he talks about ‘Independent Kashmir’ and ‘Plebiscite in Kashmir’; and that ‘India should take the first step’ – the set of narratives that Pakistan wishes to peddle abroad.^[49]

One of the most active fronts, Stand with Kashmir (no. 08494296) was formed on October 9, 2019 and registered in the Virginia jurisdiction.^[50] The registering agent for SWK is Aejaz Dar, S/o Muhammad Akram Dar, who was part of Ghulam Nabi Fai’s KAC; and Ghulam Nabi Mir’s WKAF. Other key people associated with SWK are Hafsa Kanjwal, Sameera Fazili, Ather Zia (Expert), Sehla Ashai (Treasurer), Suemyra Shah (secretary) and Huma Dar (Expert).

Interestingly, the Facebook page of Stand with Kashmir was earlier the Facebook page for Justice for Kashmir created on August 1, 2016. It was changed to SWK on March 12, 2019. The legacy of this organization however goes back even earlier. The logo of SWK seems to be an evolution of The Justice Foundation to Justice for Kashmir to SWK.

Worth noting that Muzzammil Thakur was the very first follower^[51] of Justice for Kashmir on Twitter, the first retweeter of Justice for Kashmir’s first tweet ^[52] within 9 minutes of posting.

Justice For Kashmir & Stand With Kashmir Timeline

• 1^st August 2016: Facebook page and Twitter Account of Justice for Kashmir created. Logo for Justice for Kashmir similar to Justice Foundation (Founded by Muzammil’s father Ayyub Thakur, later taken over by Ghulam Nabi Fai, and dissolved in 2015).
• 2^nd August 2016: A conference is held in Islamabad by Pakistan House and CSCR where Muzammil and his wife were among the Chief Speakers. Pakistan House is a strategic think tank headed by Ex ISI DG General Ehsan Ul Haq. CSCR is also a think tank which had many Ex Army leadership in Board of Governance. Topic of this seminar was “Power of Social Media Speech – Youth in Indian Occupied Kashmir)
• 3^rd October 2016, Policy guidelines to Pakistani Senate were uploaded on official website of Pakistan Senate, which suggests engaging foreign lobbies and journalists to target India on Kashmir.
• 25^th October 2016: Incidentally Muzzammil Thakur re-registered Justice Foundation, within a month of Pakistan House Seminar in Islamabad.

• 4^th March 2019, a Domain name StandwithKashmir.org was registered. 12 March 2019, Facebook name of page “Justice For Kashmir” was changed to “Stand With Kashmir.” As the Twitter account of Justice For Kashmir created in 2016 was not popular, hence a fresh account was created. Muzammil was first follower of “Justice for Kashmir” and even the first to tweet was RTed by him within 9 minutes of getting posted. Logo of Stand with Kashmir, which has been a slight modification of Justice For Kashmir logo, which itself was slight modification of “Justice Foundation”.

Prominent Experts of Stand with Kashmir

I) Ather Zia is a US-based Anthropologist at University of Northern Colorado Greeley. She is the founder-editor of Kashmir Lit and is the co-founder of Critical Kashmir Studies Collective, an interdisciplinary network of scholars working on the Kashmir region. She is also the Project Coordinator & Secretary of – Kashmir Foundation of America ^[53] (registered as Kashmir Human Rights Foundation with EID No. C1490203).^[54]  

Zia and Khalistan Nexus

Ather Zia’s human rights concerns transcends Kashmir cause, and apart from attending events on the platforms of Stand with Kashmir; she has also been active with ‘Justice for All’^[55], and Khalistan circle of Bhajan Singh Bhinder. JFA is an umbrella organization, which collects funds for lobbying on various issues, and is linked with ISI and Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan. Ather Zia has also been sharing platforms with Sikh ‘human rights’ advocates. On February 21, 2021, Ather Zia attended a webinar hosted by UC Berkeley BPSHI. The webinar^[56] featured Bhajan Singh Bhinder and Gurpreet Singh Johal. Bhajan Bhinder @Iqbal Choudhary was accused of supplying weapons to India during the Khalistan insurgency. He has also been involved in the drug trafficking racket in the US, and has been instrumental in establishing pretentious ‘human rights’ organization OFMI to target India. While Bhinder claims to be a Sikh of Malaysian origin, no details about his early life and his family could be ascertained.

II) Sehla Ashai is a lawyer of immigration, human trafficking and child protection and based out of Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As per her official LinkedIn profile, she is a graduate of “The John Hopkins University” (1997-01 batch) and received her Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School.^[57] Sehla Ashai has served as the secretary of Child Nurture and Relief (CHINAR) International that was formed in 2003 as a non-profit organization based out of northern Virginia, focused on empowerment of “Orphans, Vulnerable Children & Marginalized Youth” in conflict areas through “Education and Socioeconomic Initiatives.” CHINAR International (ID: 05898598)^[58] is based out of Virginia, and has office in India as well.

Sehla Ashai is treasurer of SWK, who is also seen attending events on the platform of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). She was the speaker at the 15^th annual convention of MAS-ICNA in 2017.^[59] ICNA has strong links with Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami and global terror groups – Lashkar-e-Taiba & Hizbul Mujahideen. ICNA is also behind all the Islamic fronts that are existing in North America including Sound Vision, Justice for All, Free Kashmir, Save India, and Burma Task Force.

Sehla’s active advocacy on Kashmir issue started with an event on Kashmir organized by Free Kashmir on November 14, 2019 at US Congressional hearing. At the event,  USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava was also one of the participants. Also worth noting that Sehla had virtually no credentials which would make her an eligible speaker on Kashmir issue, nor had she actively spoken on the Kashmir issue before this event.  

A month later, her relative Tony Ashai is awarded a mega real estate project by Pakistan govt. Tony Ashai (Aziz ul-Hassan Ashai)^[60] is an architect who lives in USA. He is also a close aide of Pak PM Imran Khan and visits Pakistan frequently.^[61]

In December 2020, Pak PM Imran Khan announced a real estate project “Namal Knowledge City” and assigned it to Tony Ashai. Namal Knowledge City is a multi-million dollar ‘dream project’ of Pak PM Imran Khan. The Knowledge city is an expansion of Namal College which is run by Imran Khan’s family. The estimated cost of the project is $200mn USD.
Namal Knowledge City (NKC) also registered as a non-profit corporation in Canada. The main objective behind that is to raise funds.

Ashai is also one of the key amplifiers of the Generation 2 individuals such as Hafsa Kanjwal^[62] and his relative Sehla Ashai^[63] who have been talking on the Kashmir conflict in the public forums.

Déjà vu- Tony Ashai and his brother Arthur Ashai donated to Pieter Friedrich on his Go Fund Me fundraiser.^[64]

III) Huma Dar is a lecturer at UC Berkeley & an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts. She is also the founding member of a working group on “Muslim Identities & Cultures,” at UC Berkeley. Her father was a retired Pakistani Army officer. Moreover, her sister Aliya Farouk Khan’s father-in-law, Late Lt. Col. Mian Mohammad Yusuf Khan was also in the Pakistan Army.^[65] Dar is also a sympathizer of Khalistani agenda, and was involved in the 2017 Sikh Rally held in San Francisco^[66].

IV) Suemyra Shah- The secretary of SWK, Suemyra Ayeesha Shah is a New York based Lawyer. She completed her education from University of California, Berkeley. She further completed her law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 2010. Currently, she is the Secretary of Stand with Kashmir. She is also a Corporate Counsel for original content at Audible, Inc., an Amazon company.

The most notable names for SWK are the cousin sisters: Hafsa Kanjwal and Sameera Fazili.

Hafsa Kanjwal D/o Dr. Yousuf Kanjwal is an Assistant Professor of South Asian History at Lafayette College. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in History and Women’s Studies. She has written and spoken on Kashmir for a variety of news outlets including The Washington Post, Al Jazeera English, and the BBC. She is a founding member of the Critical Kashmir Studies Collective. Hafsa is also seen as spox of SWK, and has been representing the organization at various fora:

• On September 23, 2019, Kanjwal and Suchitra Vijayan attended an event on the abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir. The event was conducted by South Asia Institute at Columbia University.^[67]
• On August 2020, Hafsa Kanjwal represented Stand with Kashmir on a webinar hosted by CAIR- Philadelphia. CAIR is alleged to be linked with Muslim Brotherhood.^[68]
• On December 10, 2019, Kanjwal attended a webinar hosted by Project South, a Georgia based organization. Kanjwal represented Stand with Kashmir in the event.^[69]
• On Nov 11, 2019, Hafsa moderated an event with guest Sanjay Kak at the New York University. The event was held in association with The Polis Project by Suchitra Vijayan. ^[70]

• Hafsa also claims to have co-founded Stand With Kashmir. ^[71]

Since her early 20’s, Kanjwal was groomed by Pakistani Embassy eco-system and was also seen regularly with Fai. Both Kanjwal and Fai attended several events together, one such event was organized by George Washington University in 2006.^[72] 

Kashmir Corps LLC.KA

Hafsa Kanjwal founded two organizations in 2007 i.e., Kashmir Corps LLC.KA (company No. D12213427)^[73] and Kashmir Corps LLCKA (company No.- W11965605). Other members included Samaa Ashaq, Osman Ashai and Haris Shawl. However, at present, both the organizations are “forfeited”. While the website of Kashmir Corps is not active, one of its web archives shows the list of its partners: which included Action Aid (India), Chinar, JP Morgan Group, HELP Foundation, J&K Bank among others.^[74] When Hafsa founded KashmirCorps LLC, her cousin Sameera Fazili’s uncle Abdul Rouf Fazili^[75] was serving as the Executive Director of J&K Bank.^[76] 

Note: Harsh Mander happened to be the Country Director of Action Aid India from October 1999 to March 2004.

Hafsa’s Rise and Helping Hand from Pakistan

Hafsa’s story almost parallels to that of Muzzammil Thakur. Both of their parents were Kashmiri ‘activist’ associated with Ghulam Nabi Fai. Both of them established a number of fronts/companies on Kashmir. Both of them were given publicity by Pakistani establishment and the fronts created by them.

Hafsa Kanjwal, along with Osman Hassan Ashai, had interned at the Deputy Chief of Mission Mohammed Sadiq’s office in the Pakistan Embassy in Washington in 2004.^[77] In June 2020, Government of Pakistan appointed him as the Ambassador (R) Mohammad Sadiq as Special Representative for Afghanistan. The embassy had organized a conference on November 20, 2004 and the attendants were top ministers and diplomats from Pakistan including Akbar Ahmed (Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University).

Hafsa was projected in a coordinated manner to the mainstream media by some of the known faces: Carin Jodha Fischer, Tony Ashai, Suchitra Vijayan/The Polis Project, Abdul Malik Mujahid, and even former Lord Nazir Ahmed to name a few. Within a span of few months – from August 2019 to Dec 2019 – all of these people gave shout-out to the ‘prominent’ Kashmiri activist, about which they had never mentioned anything earlier at all.

This chart depicts the number of times Hafsa Kanjwal was mentioned on Twitter between 2010-21. There is a sudden spike in 2019-20, suggesting that she was projected in a well-coordinated manner.

Sameera Fazili D/o of Md Yusuf Fazili 

Sameera Fazili D/o Dr. Mohammad Yusuf Fazili and Dr. Rafiqa Fazili, who immigrated to the US from Kashmir. After attending Elmwood Franklin School, Fazili graduated from the Nichols School in 1996. She then earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Harvard College. Sameera Fazili is the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in the Biden Administration.^[78] Previously, she was working as the Director of Engagement for Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Sameera Fazili also happens to be cousin of Hafsa Kanjwal,^[79] and both of them are public faces of SWK. On August 10, 2019, Sameera Fazili organized a protest against India with ‘Stand with Kashmir’, which was sponsored by ICNA Council for Social Justice. ICNA – Islamic Circle of North America – is a US based umbrella front of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. Under ICNA umbrella, several organizations such as Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) founded by Dr. Shaik Ubaid, Justice for All led by Abdul Malik Mujahid etc. have been raising funds in the name of Zakaat and other conflict areas (e.g., Rohingya crisis), and using the funds to hire lobby firms in the US to target India’s interests. These groups and their various fronts/associates have also been targeting any US politician who might appear sympathetic to India. As noted, these organizations are linked with Pak based Jamaat-e-Islami, and some of them have direct links with terror groups as well. Therefore, the appearance of the same set of organizations for anti-India protests is not surprising at all.

As noted above, the SWK is intricately linked with Justice for Kashmir. The Facebook page of Justice for Kashmir was created on August 1, 2016 and changed to Stand with Kashmir on March 12, 2019.

After lending it’s Facebook page to Stand with Kashmir in 2019, a new organization by the name “Justice for Kashmir” was re-registered on January 6, 2020 with company no. C4549424 in California^[80]. Facebook page for the new organization was created on January 2, 2020,^[81] four days before company incorporation.

The registering agent, as well as the CEO of the organizations is Majid Rasool Butt. CEO Majid Butt is also a part of seminar circuit of SWK, as he attended a conference alongside Sehla Ashai (treasurer of SWK) and Sareer Fazili of Kashmiri American Council (KAC).^[82] As will be explained later, Butt plays a significant role in engaging US politicians on behalf of Pakistan to ‘express concern’ on Kashmir.

Aejaz Dar S/o Md Akram Dar, who is registrant of SWK has also founded another organization Americans for Kashmir Foundation (AKF) with company no. 08483786 on September 10, 2019. The organization claims to “to promote human rights, democratic representation, and true freedom for the people of Jammu & Kashmir”. Other members of AKF include: Zaki Barzinji, Nouf Bazaz, Sahal Kango, Zaid Ashai, and Sameera Fazili.^[83] 

As has been observed, all these individuals and organization are part of one big nexus. One of the board members of AKF Sahal Kango has previously worked with Stand with Kashmir; and had launched a fundraiser in 2019 on Launch Good on behalf of SWK^[84], and managed to raise $20,156 USD (approx. INR. 15 lakhs INR).

It is to be recalled that Launch Good was also a preferred platform for several Islamist ‘charity’ organizations who collected millions of dollar in the name of helping India during the Covid crisis – including IMANA^[85], Muslim Aid^[86], and Penny Appeal^[87]. However, no substantial help was ever delivered to India, and given the linkages of these organization with radical Islamists and terror groups, there are apprehensions that the funds collected in the name of Covid crisis might end up in the hands of terror groups. Launch Good itself has a dubious track record. It was established by Abdur Rahman Blauvelt, Omar Hamid, and Amany Killawi, who were associated with Islamist organization – MAS and ISNA. As noted earlier, ISNA is connected with Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood.

Friends of Kashmir was registered on October 19, 2015 with Company Number 0802315145 & EIN: 81-3663093 in Texas, United States. FOK is a US-based organization which claims to “impart awareness worldwide regarding Kashmir Issue, Kashmir status, and Kashmiris’ genocide at the hands of Indian Forces in the ‘Occupied Kashmir’”. FOK also has two offices in Pakistan i.e., in Islamabad (headed by Aftab Ahmad as VP) and Karachi (headed by Naeem Abbasi as President).^[88] Ghazala Habib Khan was the registering agent as well as the director of FOK. Other directors on the board are Nasir Habib Khan and Zubair Habib Khan, who are Ghazala’s brothers.^[89] 

Ghazala Habib Khan is one of the prominent players operating in the USA circuit. She works in close association with Pakistan government and Hurriyat leaders in J&K. Apart from Friends of Kashmir, Ghazala has also been associated with two other organizations: FOK- International & Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front (KKRF).

Friends Of Kashmir International (No. 0802315145) was registered on October 2, 2019,^[90] four years after the formation of FOK, with exactly same set of people as directors (Ghazala Habib, Nasir Habib Khan, Zubair Habib Khan). Worth noting that address of both FOK and FOK-International is also same (1685 Sparrow CT Lewisvile 75077-2474 TX USA). It is therefore rather baffling, why another organization with exact same name, address and people was created. Two possible reasons could be: Either to add ‘International’ in the name to enhance the branding, or they had lost the papers – the way one forgets the password and creates another social media account.

This strategy appears to have been borrowed from the same playbook as was seen in the first part of the series (Un-ending War -I),^[91] detailing the Khalistan nexus of Bhajan Singh Bhinder. In order to give grandiose and legitimacy, the group has opened several organizations – with exactly same set of people and same address. And while signing a petition against India or publishing an anti-India advertisement, they would mention the names of all such fronts to give it a façade of ‘groups of organizations’.

Ghazala’s Pakistan/ISI links are more obvious through another front with which she is associated viz K-2: Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front (KKRF- No. 84-2999342).^[92] Ghazala formed KKRF in September 2019 in Washington DC. The KKRF members include Gurpatwant Singh Pannun & Yunus Salman Muhammad. Both Pannun and Yunus are also the Governors of Sikhs for Justice,^[93] which is known to be sponsored by the ISI.

On August 5, 2020, Friends of Kashmir hosted an event^[94] and invited Sardar Masood Khan (‘President of AJK’), former Lord Nazir Ahmed, and USA Congressional Caucus. Other speakers included Sikhs for Justice, Raja Najabat Hussain and Abdul Hameed Lone, both of whom are officials of the JK Self Determination Movement International (another front of ISI)

On September 30, 2020, Ghazala Habib attended and event in Karachi, hosted by a Pak-based organization World Kashmir Forum (WKF).^[95]

FOK, USCIRF & SFJ: On April 29, 2020, SFJ Members (Pannun) and FOK (Ghazala Habib Khan) along with Jagtar Singh Johal met USCIRF member Harrison Akins.^[96] They presented a report on suppression of ‘religious freedom’ in Kashmir. As has been detailed in Part II of Un-ending War, various fronts of ICNA – including IAMC and Burma Task Force (both associated with Dr. Shaik Ubaid), have been paying money to a lobby firm Fidelis Government Relations of Terry Allen who happened to be a longtime associate of Nadine Maenza, USCIRF Commissioner. Maenza, Akins, and USCIRF Chairperson Anurima Bhargava have been frequent appearances at the events organized by these fronts who have proven links with not only radical Islamists group – Jamaat-e-Islami but also with terror groups. It may not be a coincidence that USCIRF termed India as ‘country of particular concern’ after the lobbying efforts started and USCIRF functionaries started appearing in all these events.

Sajjad Burki, the President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-USA organized the Houston protest with Friends of Kashmir during Indian PM’s visit to USA. Just a few weeks before the Houston event, Burki formed an organization “International Humanitarian Foundation Inc” (no. 0803399910)^[97] on August 21, 2019 with A Shah, Haroon R Shaikh, Mohammad N Mian, Rafi Aziz, Sajjad Burki as Board members.

As per the archive version of its website, IHF has a lofty mission towards humanitarian issues. To quote, “IHF is a non-profitable organization that provides global relief and charitable services to vulnerable populations during normal times and also during complex emergencies like floods, drought, hurricanes, diseases, bio-terrorism and war; to work with international, national, state, and local governments and other Nonprofit Organizations to collectively fight against complex global emergencies to provide livable global society for mankind”.^[98]

Interesting to note that one of the key humanitarian works that IHF has done so far include:

 i) Spending $150K on billboards and advertisements for Houston protest;^[99]

ii) And hiring lobbying firm Fenton Communications for lobbying on Kashmir crisis for $57k^[100] 

 More interestingly, the FB timeline of this ‘international humanitarian’ organization reveals that it was active majorly during Indian PM’s visit in Houston. (Last FB post on Nov 15, 2019). ^[101]

Free Kashmir is yet another project of Justice for All, which is managed by Abdul Malik Mujahid, as noted above. Free Kashmir was earlier known as Kashmir Action. Justice for All is ‘powered by’ Sound Vision, which in turn is owned by former ICNA head Abdul Malik Mujahid. On November 14, 2019, an event of the US Congress hearing on Kashmir took place, that was attended by Congress Members David Trone, David Cicilline, Brian Fitzpatrick, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pramila Jayapal and Chris Smith. Other attendants were USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava, Anthropologist Haley Duschinski and Stand with Kashmir treasurer Sehla Ashai. Free Kashmir endorsed the event^[102] and later covered it and posted about it on its YouTube channel.^[103] 

Generation II

If one were to examine all the discourse about Kashmir, one would be forgiven for assuming that everyone has a stake in Kashmir except Kashmiris from Kashmir. In the name of Kashmir, beginning White Americans to US/UK/EU politicians to ‘Kashmiris’ born and brought up aboard – everyone has a say on Kashmir issue, except the actual Kashmiris.  

This surprisingly is not a new phenomenon.

A series of ‘White Experts’ and human rights Rudalis (professional mourners) have been cultivated over decades to keep shedding tears for Kashmir – all on  a particular line sponsored by one State. Never once any human right has been violated by terrorism in Kashmir, NOT ONCE.

As noted in the beginning, several ‘Foren’ experts/ human rights activists suddenly popped up around 2016, who precipitously found an intense human rights and geo-political interest in Kashmir, and in all other issues in India. However, while 2016 was an industrial scale expansion, similar patterns were found in the past as well. In what would be called an uncanny coincidence, three Americans appear on the theater of Kashmir in almost orderly succession, beginning 1989.

Those who are aware of Kashmir’s history would know the significance of the year.

Edward Hasbrouck is an Author & Journalist turned activist for human rights from USA. Hasbrouck’s mother was Pakistani. He came to India in the year 1989 apparently on tour,  and since then has been back and forth a number of times. It is not clear how Hasbrouck befriended Ghulam Nabi Fai (or whether Fai befriended him), but he claims to be a close friend of Fai and supported his stance on Kashmir. Over the course of time, Fai and Hasbrouck have been seen together at several events. For example, on June 21, 2012, American Muslim Alliance (AMA) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) organized an event in Fremont, California. Speakers at the event included Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, SIMI founder Dr. Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Edward Hasbrouck and other ICNA members.

The same set of names that get repeated on almost all occasions. As have been noted, ISNA is linked with Muslim Brotherhood, ICNA is linked with Jamaat-e-Islami, and Siddiqi was founder of SIMI. The event took place just five days before Fai’s imprisonment.^{[104] [105]}

Carin Ingrid Fischer a.k.a. Carin Jodha Fischer a.k.a Carin Matheke is a German origin US national who came to Kashmir in 2006 and resided there until 2016. Carin married Samar Jodha, a well-known photographer. Apparently, the couple got separated after few years. (The exact timeline of her marriage and divorce could not be determined). It is unclear as to when both of them met and decided to get married. As per one of the blog entries of Carin, both undertook a road trip from Yunnan (China) to Assam in India. However, they couldn’t complete the journey and were sent back by the Myanmar authorities. Nonetheless, they did go back to Assam.  

As per the India Business Directory by Amelia Publications^[106], Carin also served as the Director of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs of a Delhi-based PR company Perfect Relations limited (U74899DL1994PTC057593), which was registered on February 25, 1994 by Dilip Cherian (co-founder). Its current address: S-27, Star City, Mahatta Towers District Centre, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, New Delhi, Delhi 110091. It is one of the leading PR agencies that has been also providing consulting to various political parties in India.

Carin Jodha is no longer on the board of Perfect Relations, however, one of the members Pradeep Kewal Ramani is still present on the board. Current board members include Anand Sharad Bhadkamkar, Ashish Bhasin, Dilip Cherian (Director), Nicholas James Latta Tomlinson^[107].

Eventually, Carin moved to Kashmir for some un-explained reasons, and settled there as ‘tourism expert’. Again, for reasons best known to her or Kashmiri authorities – she chose to stay in Rafiabad, Baramulla, adjacent to India Pak LoC.

As per public reports, her stay in Kashmir was facilitated by local politicians. Incidentally, Carin was once detained by the local police while campaigning for National Conference during elections, which is prohibited, her being a foreign national. During her Kashmir stint, she was associated with two NGOs: J&K Rural Development Foundation (as Managing Trustee) and Rafiabad Rural Development Foundation (Founder). However, there is no trace of these NGOs registration, despite the fact that some of the very prominent Indian politicians have attended its events. Over the years, Carin became a “foreign tourist expert” on the Kashmir conflict, especially critical on India.  As per her own claims, she was barred by the Government of India from entering India in 2016^[108]. However, the same could not be verified from the open source.

Fun FactThere is no online trace of Carin Jodha Fischer before her entry into India in 2004, despite her being an environmental activist in the US (as per her own claims).

Lobbying activities:

Carin Jodha runs two lobbying firms i.e., Chinar Consulting LLC and Kashmir Action Network and both of which were registered in early October 2020. Chinar Consulting LLC-(EXTUID-4282772) was registered on October 1, 2020 under the jurisdiction of District of Columbia^[109]. The other lobby firm is Kashmir Action Network, (EXTUID-4283151) which was registered on October 5, 2020 under the jurisdiction of District of Columbia.

Within three months of Carin’s starting her lobbying firms, in January 2021, Pakistan’s ruling party PTI hired Fischer’s companies to lobby against India on the Kashmir issue for $ 3.5k each per month. The principal officer mentioned in the lobby contract was Mr. Bilal Ahmed Ghaffar, who is affiliated with PTI from the Sindh province. The objective of lobbying, among other things, include: 1) government relations; 2) media relations; 3) public relations; and 4) grassroots advocacy mobilization in ‘Indian occupied Kashmir’.

Earlier, Danielle Alice Cyr, as per her LinkedIn profile^[110],  completed her graduation from Ellsworth High School (in 2011), then BA in International Relations and Global Islamic Studies at Connecticut College (2015). She later completed her M.Sc. in Human Rights and International Politics at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK, Class of 2016. After completing her schooling, she worked at the US Department of State between Sept 2013-Apr 2014 and assisted former US embassy Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone with photographic content during press events.

As per the stories told by Danielle, she met a Kashmiri girl Eiliyah in Glasgow, where the two became friends. Later, at the invitation of her friend, she visited Kashmir, where she fell in love with her cousin Shahrukh Khan. The two eventually married in 2018, after which she changed her name from Danielle Alice Cyr to Danielle Khan. Her Husband, Shahrukh Khan, is Senior Network Security Engineer at United Therapeutics Corporation in USA. Before moving to US, Shahrukh worked at a Chennai based organization CSS Corp as a Senior Network Security Engineer^[111].

 Danielle also volunteered at Asha for Education (DC Chapter) between October 2016-September 2018^[112]. There, she assisted in development of new projects, and coordinated in events/fundraising activities.

Danielle is also one of the amplifiers of Carin Jodha and her newly-formed Pakistan-funded organization Kashmir Action Network (KAN)^[113]. Ms. Khan has recently acquired OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Card, as per one of her Twitter posts.

Fun Fact:No background record or social media traces of Danielle Alice Khan or Danielle Alice Cyr could be found till 2015 before she came to India! All the records of her life before 2015 have also been created after 2015.

To sum up: White female US ‘tourists’ appear right at a conflict theatre in quick succession, both falling in love with Indians and marrying them. They also build up views about Kashmir that is suitable to a certain country, and both of them eventually work towards lobbying for the same country against India. None of these women have any public existence prior to their appearance in India.

And if this story sounds peculiar, read the next section.

The ISI and CIA Agents

CIA and KGB at the peak of Cold War were in cut-throat competition to win over each other’s agents, and there are several fascinating accounts of such venture. Similar stories however have not been told much thereafter. It could mean either such things have become a passe, or that now the actors are more sophisticated.

Robert Grenier 

Robert Laurent Grenier is a former CIA official, who was CIA Station Chief in Islamabad, Pakistan (2001-02) – right in the center of storm post 9/11. In 2002 he was promoted to the chief of the Iraq Issues Group, where he helped coordinate covert operations in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Grenier served as Director, CIA’s Counter-terrorist Center for about a year, but was fired from that position on 6 February 2006 by the Director of the National Clandestine Service Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr in the CIA leak case and Libby trial^[115].  Grenier was identified in court documents in connection with the CIA leak grand jury investigation and charges against I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

In 2009 Grenier was appointed Chairman of ERG Partners, an independent financial and strategic advisory firm solely focused on the security and intelligence sectors. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Subsequently, Grenier opened a Lobby Firm Grenier Consulting LLC (No. 11038731) on 1^st April 2020. (No pun intended).

And within a year, in July 2021 he is awarded a Lobbying contract^[116] on behalf for Pakistan, signed by Iftikhar Ur Rehman Durrani the then Special Advisor to Pak PM Imran Khan. An advance of $25 k and another $5k for research for six months was given by the Pakistan side, with the clause of renewal of contract in six months.

History Repeats – with Precision: Robin Raphel

Robin Raphel is a former Diplomat/ CIA Analyst/ US AID functionary about lobbyist.

Raphel started her carrier with CIA in Iran, and later joined US-Aid Diplomatic Corps as economics analyst till 1978. In 1991, she joined as Political Counselor at US Embassy in New Delhi. She is credited with the creation of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which earned her the moniker of Mother of Hurriyat. She was married to Arnold Raphel, who was US Ambassador to Pakistan (1987-88), and who died in the plane crash with Zia-ul-Haq.

During her stint with US State Department during 1992-96, she worked towards shaping the US Govt policy towards engagement with Taliban. She was also instrumental in ensuring an exception to Pakistan from the Pressler Amendment that banned military export to Pakistan.

Raphel retired in 2005, and soon joined Cassidy & Associates, a Washington based lobby firm as Senior Vice President, heading its Global Affairs and Trade Group. Shortly after she comes on board, Cassidy & Associates bags $ 1.2 million lobbying contract from Pakistan.

(Cassidy subsequently had to cancel the contract after Gen Musharraf declared Martial Law in Pakistan).

In 2013, Raphel was under investigation of FBI based on an intercept of Pakistani officials by FBI, which indicated that Raphel might have been working for Pakistani agencies. FBI had also found unauthorized classified documents at Raphel’s residence, which they suspected were being supplied to a ‘foreign country’. However, in 2016 FBI decided not to pursue the matter further.

Raphel is reported to be active again, being one of the major back-channels to Taliban.

The developed world has relentlessly been persuading the rest of the world about the virtues of democracy and its institutions, projecting itself as a successful role model. Add some human rights standards, and the perfect world order is achieved. But what actually underpins the democracies in these countries, and why their politicians have been concerned about issues anywhere in the world, even if they can not even pinpoint the region on a map?

Lobbying & Kashmir

In one word – all concerns on Kashmir and human rights issues in India has been expressed by two set of people: One which Pakistani establishment has created for the purpose, and others who have been engaged by these agents o including US/UK/EU politicians.

We have noted above the activities of individuals/ organizations planted by Pak establishment for the purpose. However, to provide legitimacy to their agenda, they also need to deploy ‘third parties’, whose views could be presented as ‘neutral’. And if those ‘neutral’ concerns come from White/ Western faces from the developed world, the poor third world browns will swallow the propaganda ‘rod, hook and sinker’, without asking questions and without looking into the background.  

However, once looked into the background, a rather un-flattering view of the ‘democratic system’ of the developed world emerges. Institutionalising lobbying means, anyone can get ‘human rights’ concerns from US politicians, a facility that Pakistan has utilised rather remarkably. As a bonus point, it also buys insurance from criticism against its own human rights track records. This is rather impressive investment – by hiring lobby firms, which in turn hires politicians, Pakistan also manages to get lot of ‘aid’ and other funds, thereby, more than recovering the investment. Pakistan has been hiring lobbying institutions since long, and has hired seven different lobbying firms (three of them mentioned earlier) in the last two years alone, with an emphasis to get the control over the narrative in Kashmir.

Some of these firms were newly hired while with some others it has renewed contracts.

1. HOLLAND & KNIGHT: The six month contract ended in 11.1.2020^[117]. And the signing authority was embassy of Pakistan. Amount Spent was $385,403.24

Purpose: The issues discussed in all meetings, calls & correspondence reported relate to improvement and growth of the Pakistan-United States relationship and economic cooperation, including issues regarding the Kashmir dispute.

2. BLJ WorldWide (Brown Llyod James): The six month contract ended on 06/30/20^[118]. And the signing authority was embassy of Pakistan. Amount spent was $300,000K

Purpose: BU and the Embassy have coordinated multiple webinars and recently supported a week long media relations campaign to support ‘peace initiatives’ in Kashmir.

3. Linden Government Solution: Linden’s was hired in April 2020^[119], and since then it was lobbying for government of Pakistan and the contract was again renewed in October 2020 which lasted till Jan 2021. Amount not specified.

Purpose: Strategic consulting services, advice, planning, coordinating meetings with Government, Business representatives, and think tanks, and public relations in support of the Client’s diplomatic goals.

4. Fenton Communication: The contract for Fenton was renewed in June 2021^[120], by Council on Pakistan Relations. Earlier Fenton was hired by International Humanitarian Foundation (IHF) to do the same task^[121], as also mentioned in the agreement doc (“we distributed a background briefing paper on the crisis to journalists; we helped arrange for the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan”). But, it was no surprise as IHF was established by Sajjad Burki – PTI USA President and Friends of Kashmir^[122].

Amount = $55,000 Contract by Council of Pakistan (New)

Amount= $57,000 by IHF (Previous)

Purpose: Communicating with US and global media on the importance of positive diplomatic and economic relations between Pakistan and the U.S. This will include dissemination of background materials to journalists, writing Oped’s, placing spokespeople in media, and normal public relations activities.

Beside hiring these lobbying firms, the Pak PAC and some players from previously explained nexus like Ehtisam Ashai and Majid Rasool Butt were also providing funds and arranging meeting with MPs/Congressmen so that they can get the a well written “dialogues” from these MPs/Congressmen.

Pramila Jayapal: Pramilahas been rather critical of human rights records of India, adding in no small measures that her concerns emanate from her Indian roots, and she doesn’t want to see India losing its values. All good so far. Jayapal has also spoken on the Kashmir issue about 6-7 times between August 2019 – December 2019. There has been no mention of Kashmir after that. She has also written a letter to US Congress on Sept 10, 2019 along with JP McGovern and others. Subsequently she also brought a resolution on Dec 6^th 2019 in US Congress on Kashmir human right and religious freedom. Among the signatories was Steve Watkins (see next entry). During this period Holland & Knight were lobbying for Govt. of Pakistan and in the contract document, the name of Pramila Jayapal in section of “persons approached” has been mentioned. Holland & Knights contract ended in Jan 2020. Her last twitter post regarding Kashmir is of 17 Dec 2019. Worth noting that Holland and Knights have previously also worked with Jayapal for lobbying for a petroleum company.

Steve Watkins: The US political system is very efficient, or so it has been projected. And one of the good example of this efficiency one can see with lobbying and political donation. It is almost like put dollars at one end, and get any kind of human rights concerns from other end. Pak linked political lobbyist and brother of Tony Ashai, Ehtisham Ashai contributed to the political funding of US Congressman Steve Watkins on June 30^th2020, and Watkins tweets on Kashmir on July 23^rd 2020. This may also indicate the cost of one tweet of the politicians.

Ted Lieu: It appears that Ted Liu doesn’t enjoy much confidence of Ashai, and hence he gets paid only after he delivers. He tweets on August 29^th, and the payment is delivered on Oct 25^th, by Ehtisham Ashai. And the rate of one tweet appears same.

Brad Sherman: CongressmanBrad Shermanreceives payments of $2800 in Oct 9, 2019 and delivers three tweets! If one were to go by the prevailing rate of tweets, it would look like that Ashais indeed are good business people – extracted $200 for a bulk order!

Interestingly, from August 31, 2020 Brad Sherman has also been constantly in touch with Tony Ashai^[123]

Jim Costa: Another Congressman Jim Costa also delivers a Tweet on Kashmir situation as well as issues a statement on October 23, 2019 and Pak lobbyist Majid Butt delivers $2000.

Pakistan Action Committee  

Another US based lobbying group, it has noted a long list of people and huge sum of money/“donations” amongst its recipients^[124]: (Below image is a small portion of that list)

Important to note that four out of these three politicians (Susan Wild, Andy Levin, and Chrissy Houlahan) were also part of Foreign Relation Committee, asking question from Indian govt on Kashmir issue. The ‘questioning’ was latter advertised by Kashmir Action website, a front of Justice for All^[125].

Like the US, the number of ‘concerned’ politicians in the European theatre of democracy is also not small. The two major organizations that engaged European politicians are Kashmir Peace Forum & Friends of Kashmir.

Kashmir Peace Forum

Kashmir Peace Forum is a lobbying group which was involved in lobbying for Kashmir (Charges in between 10,000 to 24,000 euros).  KPF has two branches one in Brussels^[126] and another in UK^[127]. The officials listed in Brussels units don’t have any online presence, while the head of UK office is Mr. Majed Ismail Chaudhary is associated with several companies/ organizations – including PTI, UK.

Reportedly, Kashmir Peace Forum and EU-Pak Friendship Group are run by a same person^[128] – Pervaiz Iqbal Losar, who is close to ISI and Pak Govt, including Imran Khan^[129]. Pervaiz works together with former Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is about to face re-trail on sex abuse charges^[130]. Nazir was accused^[131] in Feb 2019, and since then Lozar’s role seems to have increased, as is seen from his visits to Pakistan and meeting with Pak Diplomat, which are frequent now.

Losar’s status not withstanding, he has successfully engaged several EU leaders:

1.Mr FABIO MASSIMO CASTALDO
2. M LLHAN KUYCHUK
3. MADAM ANTHEA MCLNTYRE
4. MADAME GINA DOWDING
5. BARONESS N. MOBARIK
6. MR JOHN HOWARTH
7. MR PIER ANTONIO PANZERI FORMER MEP
8. MADAME THERESA GRIFFIN
9. MADAME JULIE WARD
10 MR. SHAFFAQ M.
11. MR PHIL BENYON
12. M KATHLEEN VAN BREMPT
13. M LULIU WINKLER
14. M JUDE DARLING
15. MR NICOLA DANTI
16. MADAME MARIA ARENA

Fabio Massimo Castaldo

The top name in the list of MPs/MEPs engaged by Kashmir Peace Forum to speak on Kashmir issue is Vice President of the European Parliament, Fabio Castaldo^[132], who would have received anywhere between Euro 10-25k. Pak PM Imran Khan have also thanked him & others for the efforts^[133].

Friends of Kashmir, Europe:

In a Document titled “Conservative MEP Lobbying Contact Report 1st January – 30^th June 2016 we found names of two ex-MEP’s who were approached for lobbying in 2016 and are still very active and even hold executive posts in Friends of Kashmir groups. The two key politicians are Mcintire and Bashir.

Anthea McIntyre – McIntyre’s Kashmir romance also started in 2016, and on Sep 2016, she became the Co-Chair of Friends of Kashmir Group and she has been active in lobbying since then. Before 2016, no tweets on Kashmir issue, only after she was approached by Friends of Kashmir she started worrying about Kashmir.

Amjad BASHIR – He is an Ex MEP, is currently active on Kashmir issue with Friends of Kashmir group. He along with current MP/MEPs like Debbie Abrahams, Andrew Gwynne, Paul Bristow, Afzal Khan, etc are frequently seen with Pak authorities.Bashir has been accused of stealing 30,000 euros from Brexit funds. The money was used for personal expenses and also for paying bills of dinners to raise funds for a Pakistan-linked charity.

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir:

The UK All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal, cross-party groups formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area, region or country. APPGs have no official status within Parliament. However, these groups still act as lobby/ pressure groups, and above all, are useful instruments for info-war. The UK APPG-K is headed by UK MP Debbie Abraham, and has 20 other members.

How the group functions can be gleaned from the fact that a delegation of APPG-K visited Pakistan on a fully sponsored trip by Pak govt. Around 33,000 Euros were spent on the delegation that amounts to (33,000*190=62,70,000 rupee in Pakistani Currency.)

Picture below is details of benefits received by the group and the record of Annual General Meeting(AGM) in Parliament and details of expenses related to the AGM^[134].

Sarah Owens And Rachel Hopkins – These two UK MPs became very active on Kashmir issue from Nov-Dec 2019, which was coincidentally the time of Parliamentary elections in UK. A twitter post by JKLF UK, on 4^th Dec 2019,  talks about planning the election campaign for both Sarah & Owens and discussing situation in Kashmir^[135]. The election was on 12^th, and both Owns and Hopkins won their respective elections.

With all the lobbying, the networking and sophisticated propaganda machinery, the ‘mercenaries that be’ still have to resort to fake news and misinformation to push the narrative of ‘human rights violation’, ‘army atrocity’ and ‘repression’ in Kashmir by the ‘fascist’ India. The one human rights issue that remains completely absent from their ‘concerns’ is that of terrorism. The fake news about Kashmir is peddled to global media right from the top of Pakistani machinery, including their politicians, diplomats, and journalists. The litany of fake news is long, and would be virtually impossible to document. We are only documenting few samples.

The proverbial Apple (Tree): Shireen Mazari (Minister for Human Rights, Pakistan) on 15^th Sept 2019, posted on twitter “Indian occupation forces can’t even bare to see fruit trees live in IOJK – lest the Muslim Kashmiris eat the fruit. Such is the barbarism of the Rogue Modi Govt’s fascist hate-filled mindset.”

Reality: The video^[136] was of felling of trees in Himachal Pradesh following a High Court order.

One would wonder why Pak HR Minister would use ‘felling of trees’ as an issue?! The point is, they do not need facts – only excuse to write words – ‘fascist’ and ‘atrocities’ in the context of India and Kashmir. The idea is to keep ‘reinforcing’ the narrative to make it valid – a lie repeated thousand times. This video, despite being proven as misinformation, has 225.3k views, and continues to be watched. The tweet and video is still available^[137] on twitter without any ‘manipulated media’ tag.

A Friend in US: Donald Trump

Ali Haider Zaidi (Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Pakistan) on 18^th Aug 2019 tweeted a video claiming to be from Kashmir, which asked US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on India. The video turned out^[138] to be an old unrelated footage from Haryana.

Not surprising, the post and the video is still available^[139] on twitter, without even giving ‘manipulated media’ tag.

A Different Kind of Scream?

Abdul Basit, the former Pakistani envoy to India, thought adult film actor Johnny Sins was a victim of violence in Kashmir and retweeted a fake tweet without verifying it. Johnny Sins later gave a ‘shout out’ to Abdul Basit^[140] and assured him about his well-being.

Pellet Gun Victim: Maleeha Lodhi 

One of the biggest propaganda that has been peddled revolves around the use of pellet guns by Indian security forces to disperse protesters in Kashmir. It has become such an issue that several human rights activists and organizations expressed ‘serious concerns’ over it.

Here is how stories of Indian atrocities build:

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Sept 2017 used  Palestinian girl’s photo to spread lies^[141] about pellet gun attacks in J&K.

Interesting part, despite expose, the vested interests continue to push this fake story.

A Lie Repeated Thousand Times..

Despite Maleeha Lodhi’s pic getting exposed, a ‘Journalist’  Ameer Abbas^[142] from Islamabad (Bol Network, previously at News One Pk, Dawn News, Dunya News, ExpressNewsPK, Waqt News TV etc) re-plugged the same the same fake news in 2019 claiming it as Indian Army atrocities in Kashmir.

Another ‘Journalist’ from Islamabad Wajahat S. Khan^[143] (Nikkie Asia columnist), posted a fake news about Rift between CRPF and J&K Police. The news got 4k RT and 7.7 likes. Twitter didn’t take any action as always and then CRPF^[144] and SSP J&K Police^[145] had post and clarify that the news was fake.

Turkish Free Fake Media Helping Pakistan

A fake news of India issuing over 3.4 million fake domiciles to change Kashmir’s demography after the removal of article 370 was circulated by major media houses of Pakistan^[146] and even big media houses like Anadolu Agency^[147] of Turkey. The news was proven fake.

Secularism = Colonialism

Pakistan’s ‘Defence news’ platform @defencepk posted a distorted picture, twisting the effort towards reaffirmation of India’s secular identity to portray it a ‘colonial’ narrative, repeating the same fault-lines that Pakistani establishment hopes to perpetuate in India. Unlike the Pak propaganda ministry, it was a more subtle psy-war attempt. For once, Twitter suspended^[148] the handle.

An Army Veteran & Mock Drill

Pakistan’s Retired Air Marshal Shahid L+++atif shared a video on Twitter on 9^th August 2019, claiming that Indian forces are firing straight bullets on unarmed civilians protesting against violation of human rights in Indian occupied Kashmir.

Reality: The video was from a Police mock drill^[149] conducted in Khunti district of Jharkhand, India in 2017.

This tweet is now removed by Shahid Lafit but a lot of other handles from Pakistan are still sharing it.

As mentioned above, Riffat Wani is one of the prominent faces that raises human rights issues from Kashmir at various global fora, including on ‘Friends of Kashmir’; and seeks Independent Kashmir. She has also been seen regularly alongside ‘President’ of ‘AJK’ Sardar Masood Khan, and former Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is under trail in UK for sexually assaulting Kashmiri women and minors.

Riffat has been spreading^[150] fake^[151] news on a regular basis

A letter was been circulated by @GeelaniOfficial^[156] in the name of Syed Ali Shah Geelnai, on 6^th July 2020. As per the letter, written in Urdu, stating that Geelani has asked people to observe a complete shutdown on July 8 to observe the death anniversary of Burhan Wani. The letter turned out to be fake^[157].

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah’s fake tweet^[158] with a statement to stop internet services in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was being circulated on twitted, MHA^[159] has to later clarify that the post was fake/morphed.

Info-War Across the Social Media Platforms:

To spread fake news during the abolition of article 370, on 6^th Aug 2019, a video was being circulated on Facebook and other platforms claiming that Indian Army burned Kashmiri people’s houses in Bandipora.

Facebook, unlike twitter, was quick to mark the news as ‘fake’.

The fake post of RSS goons attacking a Hindu woman who attempted sehri for a Muslim Kashmiri girl was being circulated on both twitter^[160] and Facebook^[161]. ^The news was later fact-checked and declared fake by news agencies^[162].

Another fake account of Nadia Beig who cleared UPSC exam, with 350^th rank was created to spread anti-national feelings as well as to create a rift among the communities, the fake account was later exposed by alt news^[163].

As the above fake news misinformation reveals, the narratives are being manufactured along following major themes:

1. Kashmir is in turmoil: Army atrocities; pellet guns.
2. Around revocation of 370: protests; demographic changes.
3. Attempts at sowing news of conflicts within Indian Security forces
4. Projecting ‘global’ concerns on the situation.

Seeing the popular narrative on Kashmir, one must give it to Pak establishment that they have been very successful in creating these narratives. The success is also reflected through numbers; total 7 fake news on twitter with available data, have 18300 RTs and 26792 likes. Two viral fake videos of Himachal Pradesh and Panchkula, Haryana have 225.3k and 222.4k views respectively.

Building Narrative: Army Atrocity – a Case Study

In the same vein, as August 5^th is approaching, there has been a renewed effort to highlight one particular aspect: Indian Army atrocities on Kashmiris!

In order to build a narrative, first random people/ anonymous handles start posting about random ‘incidences’ of Army’s harassment. It is irrelevant that none of these stories would have any factual details – date/time/location. Corresponding to this, some major handles/influencers would start soft-paddling the narrative of army story through personalised experiences or as ‘epistemological’ exercise. And to provide the enabling environment, old and random stories of army atrocities are recycled to give it a sense of recency. This cycle is repeated often, thereby making it ubiquitous. All one would need after this is an orchestrated/ provoking act compelling security personnel to take an action, record it with various angle cameras and a perfect recipe of narrative of ‘army atrocity in Kashmir by fascist India’!

Sample this:

A combined effort is seen by a series of accounts in which an old article by Geo News^[164] Pak of Nov 2020 is being re-plugged since June 2021. Out of the total 37 shares of this article. The 26 of the share is in June and July 2021.

This method of plugging-in old articles was tried last year as well in the run-up to August 5  in 2020, when an old article^[165] of TRT world of September 2019, was re-plugged in with 24 link in two months.

‘Foreign nationals’ from Islamabad also starts posting similar news articles about from 2016.

An account^[166] for ‘guidance’ on economy and investment in Pakistan has been  repeatedly posting the India Army ‘atrocity’ in Kashmir – with reference that Pak PM Imran Khan says so.

And then there are influencers^[167]:

Freedom of speech is a cornerstone for a democracy, and freedom of speech includes the right of dissent, howsoever the radical views one may have, subject to the Constitutional restrictions. However, freedom of speech is not a freedom of fake narrative and can’t be construed as a license to peddle ‘sponsored’ narratives even by literary luminaries.

There is no straight road from free speech to propaganda.

There is no dearth of voices on Kashmir that are not only anti-establishment, but some even go to the extent of advocating policies that are contrary to India’s long held positions across the governments. However, few touchstones differentiate genuine dissenting voices from shill propaganda, where the later invariably has one or more of the features:

• Peddling a set of narratives, which is being seeded by Pak Establishment
• Proximity with known Pakistani/ ISI agents & their fronts: Fai, KAC, & SWK.
• Timeline of ‘activism’ and the narratives/ themes/ hashtags
• Complete absence of any concern over terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere

To analyze these points, we first looked at social media platform like twitter and seek to find the ‘activism’ happening on Kashmir. We pulled the data on 19 Hashtags on Twitter from 2014 till now. These hashtags are among the popular hashtags which have been used for trending Kashmiri issues. We look for the verified handles/ big handles wielding influence on social media or people who are most vocal on Kashmir issue in India like journalists, activists, writers, poets etc. From our analysis, we found that majority of the verified handles (>90%) on Twitter involved in sharing or amplifying these hashtags were from Pakistan. The Indian verified handles which appeared in the data-set, were mostly news media outlets and some were counter-tweets against Pakistani handles.

The below plot shows the tweet timeline of these hashtags from verified handles starting from Jan, 2014 till Jul, 2021 .

The hashtags #StandWithKashmir, #KashmirBleeds, #KashmiriLivesMatter, #KashmirMartyrsday were among the most amplified in terms of the number of verified handles tweeting these hashtags. We also see a trend that the involvement of verified accounts in theses hashtags started from 2018 onwards. The below chart plots the profile location of the verified handles from the hashtag data-set.

• Unique Verified handles from Pakistan: 1353
• Unique Verified handles from India: 136
• Unique Verified handles from Canada: 84
• Unique Verified handles from United Kingdoms: 65
• Unique Verified handles from United states: 55

In our analysis, some handles of Indian origin or Indian, we found to be appearing frequently in these hashtags. These handles are among the most vocal on twitter talking and giving their opinion on on Twitter. These handles include: Suchitra Vijayan, Kavita Krishnan, Ather Zia, Huma Dar, Nitasha Kaul, Mona Bhan, Anuradha Bhasin, Angana Chatterji, Arjun Sethi, Shaheen Shora, Ruwa Shah. The below plot shows the tweet timeline of these accounts on “Kashmir” keyword from 2014 onwards.

Before 2016, only 2-3 handles from the above-mentioned accounts were actively tweeting on the Kashmir issue. Post 2016, we can see a coordinated behavior of these inter-connected influencers.

It was not surprising to see all these names appear frequently on social media, but the complete network can be uncovered by looking for the offline connections among them. Some of the names that have been expressing concerns over Kashmir situation, and fulfill one or more of above criteria include:

Writer and a political activist Arundhati Roy has been vocal on the Kashmir issue. Her views on Kashmir align with the independence of Kashmir and right to self-determination. She has repeatedly asserted that Kashmir is not an integral part of India.1,^[171],2^[172],3^[173],4^[174],5^[175]]

Roy has been a regular occurrence to events organized by none other than Fai, not once but repeatedly. She also spoke in London Conference where she supported ‘independent Kashmir’. The Conference also had a delegation of ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai.

Roy has written a book “Kashmir: The case for freedom” with Angana Chatterji. (see next entry) Her network includes people like Ather Zia, Huma Dar, Suchitra Vijayan, Angana Chatterji, Stand with Kashmir etc.

Once a coincidence, but repeatedly?!

Ms. Roy could be forgiven for believing that Fai was an ‘activist’. However, as noted in Part -I of Unending War, she was also a frequent occurrence at Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI) along with another Pakistani agent Bhajan Singh Bhinder @ Iqbal Choudhary, ‘expressing concerns’ over the situation of Indian minorities. OFMI was set up by Bhinder, and subsequent to DisInfo Lab report, OFMI has shutdown its shop.

Angana Chatterji^[176] is the co-chair of the Research Project on Armed Conflict and People’s Rights at the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, University of California at Berkeley. Chatterji, like Roy, has also been raising all sorts of ‘human rights’ issues in India. Like Roy, she was also associated with Ghulam Nabi Fai. However, after Fai was convicted for being ISI agent, Angana Chatterji claimed that she did not know about Fai’s actual credentials, and that she can’t be held guilty merely by association. Fair enough assertions. [1^[177],2^[178],3^[179]]

But lo and behold, Chatterji once again starts appearing with Fai.

Chatterji Co-founded the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir with Parvez Imroz in 2008; and served as the Co-Convener from April 2008 to May 2012. This organization included people like Parvez Khurram and Gautam Navlakha. Her Center at Berkeley includes Parvez Khurram, Parvez Imroz who founded Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), and Harsh Mander (in the advisory board) apart from IAMC!  

Her articles are part of Kashmir syllabus^[180] of Stand with Kashmir, and other people in her network includes Ather Zia, Huma Dar, Suchitra Vijayan, Arundhati Roy, Nitasha Kaul etc.

Nitasha Kaul^[181] is a novelist, writer, poet, and human rights activist. She has studied at Delhi University, and has been working at University of the West of England; and has been a Visiting Fellow at Central University of Hyderabad.

Kaul is vocal(1^[182],2^[183],3^[184]) about ‘Indian occupation of Kashmir’ and has written articles for the same; she also gave a testimony on Kashmir and ‘Indian occupation’ in US congressional hearing on 22^nd October 2019 along with Angana Chatterji. She was also one of the signatories^[185] in an open letter to UNSC seeking intervention on new domicile laws in Kashmir.

She is frequently seen on the Stand with Kashmir, and her network includes Mona Bhan, Deepti Misri, Ather Zia, Huma Dar, Suchitra Vijayan, and Hena Zuberi (Justice For All) and Hafsa Kanjwal.

He^[186] is an artist and film maker, famous for his film Jashn-e-azadi which showcased many riots happening in Jammu & Kashmir. Kak is grandson of Ram Chandra Kak, the Prime Minister of erstwhile princely state of Kashmir under Raja Hari Singh. Reportedly, Kak Sr.was one of the key persons under Hari Singh’s administration. He was later sacked as PM and put under house arrest in 1947, after the intervention of Indian government.

He has been vocal (1^[187],2^[188],3^[189]) about his views on ‘Indian occupation of Kashmir’. Not only Sanjay Kak is a sympathizer to Kashmiris, but also of Ghulam Nabi Fai, and tried to defend him after Fai’s ISI nexus became public.

As expected, Kak has also appeared on Stand with Kashmir, discussing his book “Until my Freedom Comes”.

Kak’s network includes Arundhati Roy, Suchitra Vijayan^[190] (The Polis Project)

Anuradha Bhasin is an Indian journalist Executive Editor of the Kashmir Times. Her paper was presented in the 12^th international peace conference on Kashmir organized by Fai in 2015. However, she could not attend the event due to demise of her father. The conference included Suchitra Vijayan as a speaker.

Her father, Late Ved Bhasin was associated with Fai. Anuradha Bhasin was a big sympathizer of Ghulam Nabi Fai that she defended him and his lobbying efforts for ISI! (1^[191],2^[192],3^[193])

Suchitra Vijayan is a lawyer and the co-founder of The Polis Project, which was set up in 2016. She was also an attendee at the 12^th international Peace Conference on Kashmir in 2015 organized by Fai^[194]. Not surprisingly, she supported the ‘independence’ of Kashmir. She has also been a frequent appearance on Stand with Kashmir[1^[195],2^[196],3^[197]] platform and was also mentioned in the ‘Go-to’ list of Kashmir Expert on its website, which was later deleted. Her network^[198] includes Arundhati Roy^[199], Arjun Sethi, Mona Bhan, Ather Zia Nitasha Kaul, and Hafsa Kanjwal^[200].

Kavita Krishnan is an India Left politician and has been vocal about Kashmir. She was involved in the “Free Khurram^[201]” campaign and signatory of ‘open letter to civil society’ for Free Khurram campaign, where the other signatories included: Harsh Mander, Sanjay Kak, Arundhati Roy, Ather Zia, Gautam Navlakha^[202], Deepti Misri, Mona Bhan, and Teesta Seetalvad. She was also mentioned in the deleted ‘Go-to’ list of Kashmir Expert^[203] on its website. Her network includes Huma Dar^[204] and Gautam Navlakha.

Kavita Krishnan was also one of the key influencers who promoted the fake ‘scholar’ Pieter Frederich, who was popped up by Bhajan Bhinder. In fact, Kavita was one of the very few Indian handles who came to defend Pieter and OFMI even after expose!

A lawyer, ‘activist’, and author who has also been an active player on Khalistan front apart from sharing the stories^[205] of ‘atrocities’ in Kashmir. He gave testimony^[206] in a human rights hearing on Kashmir at Tom Lantos in 2019 along with Sehla Ashai and Yousra Fazili (sister of Sameera Fazili) and Haley Duschinski. The hearings video^[207] was also shared by Justice For all on YouTube.

He has appeared on a webinar organized by Ghulam Nabi Fai’s new venture World Kashmir Awareness Forum in 2021.The post was shared by Ghulam Nabi fai^[208] on Facebook. He also appeared on The Polis Project along with Arundhati Roy^[209] talking about manufactured evidences against human right activists of India by the police and Indian Government.

The Axis:

As shown, all these handles are connected not only to one common organization Stand With Kashmir but also with Fai. Moreover, all these ‘activists’ keep appearing with each other and keep promoting each other as ‘experts’ and ‘activists’, thereby creating a global network of activists and writers who constantly give their opinions on Kashmir and create the narrative on Kashmir globally. As shown, Stand with Kashmir is a Pakistani project connected with Fai and his associates in the back-end and their children at the front-end. Thus, the entire narrative is controlled by ISI and Pakistan whereas this network of actors are used as a pawn to push their agenda.

Trending Twitter Hashtags have become the single biggest instrument of info-war, and Twitter doesn’t seem to have the capabilities to distinguish between the organic conversation and artificially generated trends. While the Social Media platforms have become preferred tools for all psy-war/ info-war, its use by the Pak sponsored ‘Kashmir’ agenda has new levels. The efficiency and magnitude these groups utilize these fronts would be a lesson for media students and social media PR companies.

However, as with case of all artificially boosted campaigns, they also leave tale-tell signs. As noted, the scale of social media usage is so high that it would be virtually impossible to map even its fraction. It is also spread across various social media platforms, and hence it would not be feasible to compile this into a single report without making it unwieldy. It warrants a separate report focused exclusively on the campaigns and narratives being run through social media, which could be attempted subsequently. Accordingly, the ambit of this report has been kept only to the most elementary level to give the idea of how social media is being used as an instrument, but not about its scale. To this end, we have analyzed some of the social media trends/ campaigns, one of them being #RedForKashmir and other #StandWithKashmir

#RedForKashmir

One of the favorite hashtags being deployed by this group is #RedForKashmir, which was launched in the wake of removal of Article 370, starting right on August 5^th, 2019.

As shown in the graph, there are three distinct peaks:

• 1^st peak- 5 Aug, 2019 – 1290 tweets
• 2^nd peak- 5 Aug, 2020 – 662 tweets

• 3^rd peak- 8 July 2021 – 4283 tweets

There is another smaller peak after on 13^th July with 1005 tweets. Coming in quick succession of 8^th July, it seems that the #RedForKashmir would continued to be used, and is likely to be on of the key hashtags on 5^th August anniversary.Another interesting phenomena about these trends are that there is virtually no activity other than on the designated dates, confirming its artificially orchestrated nature. Who are these ‘concerned’ social media users?

Accounts’ Creation Timeline

To understand who are the handles behind the campaign, and to what extent the trend was ‘designed’, one of the key data is the date on which majority of twitter handles were created. Hypothesis is, the more artificially generated a trend is, it would have more handles created for the purpose.

• 454 accounts have 0 followers
• 957 accounts have followers between 1 to 10
• These small accounts have a huge number of status count (some having tweeted more than 2000 times) which contains mostly different hashtags on Kashmir to be amplified.
• Around 200 accounts having low status count (less than 10) has only this hashtag as their tweets, which signifies they were created only to amplify.

As shown above, the peaks in the account creation timeline occurs again during 5^th Aug, 2019 (around 90 accounts) and subsequently between May and Jul 2021 (around 210 accounts). It goes on to show that these accounts were created for agenda only, and contrary to what they would want others to believe that there are many people ‘concerned’ about the situation in Kashmir, it is just the propaganda pushed by sponsored minions.

We will let you guess who?!

Driving the Narrative

Twitter algorithm allows for a trend based on the combination of number of users as well as the contribution of influencers with high number of followers. We are not sure whether Twitter provides additional weightage to -blue-tick’ handles in pushing a trend, but these handles no doubt provide credibility and boost. Therefore, we picked up the list of influencers in the hashtag:

The table above shows that most of these are, as expected, from Pakistan, and within Pakistan also, they belong to a certain group, which is also evident from the geo-location of data.

Geo-location data:

Based on the geo-location data provided by users, we found most of the accounts who tweeted this hashtag were from Pakistan. Important to note that most of the handles shown from India belongs to news article, which reported about it, and cleaning the data of this noise, it would be obvious that almost entirely driven by a segment of Pakistani social media users.

Profile Locations Mapping

Note: These numbers do not include profiles which did not have profile location data. So only the observable profile locations are used and even in that, most of the profiles originate from Pakistan.

Related Agenda: Word Cloud

To get a clearer picture of the people behind this artificially boosted hashtag, we tried to map the other trends/keywords associated with this hashtag, which could explain the people behind the trend.

As shown above, the Hashtag WordCloud shows other trends which are associated with #RedForKAshmir are: #FreeKashmir, #WaniMyHero, #BurhanWaniDay, and #StandWithkashmir. Interestingly, there seems an attempt to add some more colours in the trend as well – #BlueForKashmir & #GreenForKashmir. However, the biggest trend that is associated is #StandwithKashmir, which is of importance because #RedForKashmir is the very first project of the organization Stand with Kashmir!

The Network

Below is the network of people associated with the trend – with a complete mention network for the #RedForKashmir showing all the accounts which tweeted and who were mentioned in those tweets. The size of the nodes are based on the number of times they have tweeted or being mentioned.

The network also shows other hashtags used by the users – Please hover over the nodes

(this facility is not available in PDF)

#StandWithKashmir

Stand with Kashmir has been adopted as standard catch-phrase after #RedForKashmir. The first peak trend occurred around Feb 2020, apparently to announce the arrival of the new front.

• Around 500 accounts have LovePTI, Imran Khan, or TeamIK in their bio, suggesting supporters of PTI were involved in amplifying this hashtag.
• 165 accounts found to have 0 Followers
• 947 accounts have Followers between 1 to 10.
• Around 200 accounts which had status count less than 10 had their first tweet as #StandWithKashmir

As shown in the graph, from the first timeline there is a peak on 5^th Feb, 2020. Thereafter we see few more peaks around 10^th March 2020, then in smaller peaks from May to July and then again two peaks at 5^th Aug 2020 and 15^th Aug 2020.

Accounts’ Creation Timeline:

It can be seen that most of the accounts were created after 2019.

The peaks coincide with peaks in the tweet timeline showing accounts were created to push the agenda.

Most of the accounts tweeting are PTI supporters or official handles of PTI.

As expected, most of the accounts who tweeted this hashtag were from Pakistan.

• Pakistan – 4001
• India – 517
• United States – 91
• Canada – 75

• United Kingdom – 73

Profile Locations Mapping

These numbers do not include profiles which did not have profile location data. So only the observable profile locations are used and even in that most of the profiles originate from Pakistan.

HashtagCloud

• The Hashtag word cloud shows #KashmirSolidarityDay, #IndiaQuitKashmir, #StandwithPalestine, # KashmirBanegaPakistan,  #FreeKashmir #JusticeForKashmir etc were used along with #StandWithkashmir.
• The hashtags like #KashmirBanegaPakistan show how the agenda was captured by Pakistani accounts.
• The hashtag #FreeKashmir is an initiative of “Justice for all” which has officially put on their website that they work with Stand with Kashmir organization. Justice for All is a Jamaat-lined front.

• #JusticeForKashmir is also an initiative of Stand with Kashmir, as the previous name of StandWithKashmir was JusticeForKashmir.

Network plot

• a network for the #StandWithKashmir showing all the accounts which tweeted and who were mentioned in those tweets.
• The size of the nodes based on the number of times they have tweeted/ mentioned.
• The network also shows other hashtags used by theses people. (hover over the nodes).

The 10^th March trend of #StandWithKashmir pertains to another campaign ran by same set of people on #RejectAmitJani. Amit Jani was appointed as the Asian American Pacific Islander outreach director for former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. However, immediately after his appointment, he has been opposed because claim that Jani for his association with the ruling party in India.

There is an interesting pattern here:

All Pakistan sponsored groups/ individuals/organizations have consistently opposed and even ran campaigns against each and every US politician of Indian who has not been peddling Pakistani agenda of speaking/ working against India. And if it would have been a stand-alone case, it would still be fathomable that it could be because of the individual politician. But the pattern is obvious – each and every group sponsored by Pakistan – in the name of any cause whatsoever (Khalistan, Kashmir, Human Rights, Religious Freedom) would invariably be used to target US politicians of Indian origin – if they do not toe the line. Some of these we have documented in our earlier reports, but this aspect needs a deeper study – both in the US and Europe. Some of the case studies reported by our previous reports Unending War – I & II include:

Khalistani/ Minority fronts: Tulsi Gabbard: against who not only the OFMI front of Bhinder was used, but Bhinder’s lackey Pieter Friedrich would carry protest at Gabbard’s events. And if one mat think of this as some kind of ideological protest, Bhinder-Pieter nexus ran paid social media campaigns against Tulsi Gabbard. Likewise, IAMC had ran paid campaigns and protests against Indian origin US politicians, who are inclined towards India.

During the phase starting 1970s, the epicenter of material and logistic support to the Kashmir agenda of Pakistan was from Saudi. From Ayyub Thakur to Fai, all moved to Saudi before moving on to UK/US. It is also documented that Fai got Saudi patronage with the blessings of Jamaat, whose life-long member Fai was. However, owing to a shift in geo-politics as well as the dynamics between Islamic countries, Turkey is now projecting itself as the new ‘center’ of Islam. For the history of students this may not be a completely new phenomenon. This cycle of shifting of Islam’s political center has remained for centuries.

Turkey’s claim as new savior of Islamic world is part of image building exercise for Turkish President Erdoğan for domestic purposes. The rift between Saudi and Qatar beginning 2017 provided a suitable impetus to this initiative. Saudi led Gulf block was so upset with Turkey’s influence with Qatar that one of the demands it had imposed on Qatar for normalization of relations was cutting military ties with Turkey. Not surprisingly, the rift instead brought relations between Turkey and Qatar to a new level. Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural gas reserve, and it would have wanted to have its space. Moreover, both Qatar and Turkey also share a common agenda with Muslim Brotherhood, which is a radical stream of Islam, and is banned by many countries including by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The influence MB enjoys in these countries could be gauzed from the fact that it is one of the key factors for Egypt to normalise its relations with Turkey and Qatar.

Flushed with resources and being the center of Muslim Brotherhood, it provided an apt backdrop for Turkey to ‘re-claim’ its ‘rightful’ place in the Islamic world, being the successor of the Ottoman Empire, the largest Muslim empire in history, so far.

Turkey came prepared.

In order to bring synergies amongst various Muslim organizations and also between MB and Jamaat, Turkey has established an umbrella organization Union of the NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW). The UNIW is also known as İslam Dünyası Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları Birliği, (iDSB), having association with 340 NGOs across 65 countries. iDSB/UNIW aim is to create an ‘Ummah Consciousness’ between NGOs and members and leave behind a solid bridge to our generation as a charity by connecting with Muslims all over the World.^[219]

SADAT Inc. (International Defense Consultancy), founded in 2012, is a private Turkish security contractor headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the country’s first domestic military consultancy firm, founded in 2012 by former Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Brigadier General, Adnan Tanrıverdi. It is also responsible for security of President Erdoğan. UNIW/iDSB is a front outfit of SADAT.

Associated Members/ Organization in South Asia:

• Pakistan: Al-Khidmat Foundation, charity wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). Muhammad Abdus Shakoor, the President of Al-Khidmat is also Council Member of UNIW, apart from Fai. (For details on Al-Khidmat, please refer Covid Aid Scam part-1)
• Nepal: Islamic Sangh Nepal (ISN), a Kathmandu based NGO which is under watch of Indian agencies for providing sanctuary to fugitive Indian terrorists.

• Maldives: Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), is banned for its connection with Al-Qaeda & ISIS.^[220]

UNIW/ iDSB team has a Council member from India: T. Arif Ali, Secretary General Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and President of Human Welfare Trust (HWT)^[221]. HWT appears to be mirror/ replica of Human Welfare foundation(HWF) with common Executive team. HWF was set up in 2006 for humanitarian and development plan. It is an umbrella body with over 200 local partners. One of the board members of HWF is Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, a former member of SIMI.^[222] Incidentally, in October 2020, NIA conducted raid in six NGOs including the offices of Human Welfare Foundation in Delhi and Anantnag, allegedly for funding terror activities.^[223]

Unrelated Fact:

Turkey launched a global media drive of its own – TRT World in 2015.

In the effort to make it as a center of political Islam, it is only natural that Turkey cultivates all synergies, and hence adopting ‘Kashmir’ cause would only be useful. Kashmir also provides a backdrop for Jamaat and MB to synchronize their energies, resources, and tactics. The organization which aims to bring about these synergies is UNIW. It was therefore not surprising to see that Turkey has developed a stake in driving the Kashmir narrative, and as expected  names such as Hafsa Kanjwal and Ghulam Nabi Fai have started appearing in events sponsored by them.

Fai is a Council Member of UNIW, and attended International Kashmir Conference hosted by UNIW/iDSB Jan 2020.^[225]

Fai’s MB affair goes back to the US time. When Fai shifted base to the US from Saudi, and launched his first organization – KAC, the seed funding was provided by North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) which was a front of ISNA, a MB front itself. As if history is repeating itself, from a microcosm to macro: Fai moved to the US with help of Saudi Kingdom’s scholarship and was helped by MB in the US. At present again, having nurtured the Kashmir agenda with help of Saudi, now it is shifting to Turkey under the shadow of MB.

Fai is now a regular attendee at the events organized by Turkish media and government bodies. The latest one being 100^th year anniversary event of state-run news agency Anadolu Agency.^[226] (Anadolu was active in propagating fake news on Kashmir issue- see the fake news section of the report)

As has been established by now, Fai is an institution, and hence if he appears on the Turkish scene, other players of this orchestra would naturally follow suit. On May 13, 2020 Hafsa Kanjwal attended an event hosted by an Istanbul based organization – Centre for Islamic and Global Affairs (CIGA).^[227] The video of the event was posted on the YouTube channel of Kashmir Reading Room.^[228] 

If this is any indicator, expect other ‘experts’ and ‘activists’ to also appear on the Turkish horizon, sooner than later. If it has already started, then we have missed it.

Turkish Influence Operation in the US

Another front US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) was incorporated in April 2013 in Washington, USA (EXTUID-4128067)^[229]. USCMO is an umbrella organization of Muslim organizations in USA comprising of CAIR, MUNA, ICNA, MAS and other similar entities. USCMO is considered associate/front of the US Muslim Brotherhood and works towards projecting Turkey’s interests in the US.^[230]

Addendum: Pakistan vs Kashmir

In July 2020, hardline anti-India separatist leader of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani resigned from the party causing a havoc in Pakistan. It was due to a rift between Geelani and APHC (PoK) leader Ghulam Mohammad Safi. In 2019 Syed Geelani sacked Ghulam Md Safi and appointed Abdullah Geelani as new APHC (PoK) convener. It is to be noted that Abdullah did not have good camaraderie with the Hurriyat leaders of PoK as well as the Pak establishment. ^[231]

In an important move, SAS Geelani entrusted Abdullah Geelani – a distant kin in POK – to represent him in APHC(G) and international platforms. But Abdullah was removed as convenor by Farooq Rehmani, POK leader who instead made Hussain Mohammed Khateeb, favoured by the ISI.^[232] 

At present, Ghulam Mohammad Safi’s son-in-law, Muzzammil Thakur is active on the lines of Kashmir secession from India. Muzzammil’s wife, Shaista Safi (Pak citizen) is also active on the same line.

In the Pakistani scheme of things, there seems to be no Kashmir for Kashmiris.

(If there could be one.)

Conflict theaters world over tend to create vested interests – and Kashmir is no different. What we have seen over the decades is that only the tools and techniques change, the underlying agenda remains same.  

And for those benefitting from the conflict it would make perfect sense. In the garb of Kashmir alone Pakistan is able to fulfill a range of its strategic objectives:

1. It has engaged US lobby firms, who in turn are medium to reach out to US politicians, who have played a critical part in ensuring supply of ‘aid’ and other largesse from the US, despite the fact that Pakistan has consistently worked at the cross purpose of US interest in the region.
2. In the name of Kashmir, it has also targeted every Indian-origin US politician who may not be inclined to serve their agenda, and/or seen closer to India.
3. While at the same time, it has kept all the focus away from its own dismal track records of human rights and minorities issues. Some of the most gruesome atrocities inflicted upon Pak minorities doesn’t even raise a whimper of protest from all the human rights cavaliers put together.
4. Kashmir has also become a money-making machine – as seen from numerous fund-raising campaigns being run on Launch Good and other fund-raising platforms. As explained in the DisInfo Lab reports on Covid Aid Scam, these organizations not only do not provide any details about their funds utilizations but are also connected with radical Islamists and terrorist groups.
5. Above all, it is a survival strategy of Pakistani establishment, particularly for the Army to keep selling the Kashmir opium to its domestic population to remain relevant and grab resources. It also doesn’t harm that whenever the population demands accountability on domestic/development issue, Kashmir slogan comes handy for distraction.

Kashmir conflict has also created an eco-system from which a set of families derive their livelihood and relevance. The Fais, the Thakurs, the Kanjwals, the Ashais, the Fazilis, the Safis,  and the Dars among others have not only been living their dream lives, they have also come to acquire an aura of ‘experts’ and ‘human rights’ activists, an aura that is very useful, particularly in these woke time.

The only things that are missing in this Pakistani orchestrated theater is Kashmiris themselves. Their role has been reduced to mere objects, in whose name the mercenaries would live a life full of ‘activism fun’.

Hence, it would be criminally naïve for not only Indians but particularly for Kashmiris to assume that Pakistan and the net cast by its establishment would have any interest in resolving Kashmir issue. For the Pak establishment, Kashmir conflict has become a Goose that lays golden eggs, and unlike the stupid old lady, it has no intention of killing the goose.

Tony Ashai

Tony Ashai made his Twitter account private in July 2021 for few days, In these days he went on to delete all his plausible traces connecting him to Pak PM Imran Khan since Nov, 2017.

His only tweet now present on his timeline is on Imran Khan is on 31^st July, 2021 after Oct, 2017.

His deleted posts however are still present on the archives from Nov, 2019.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://twitter.com/tonyashai

Not only this, he also deleted his connections (tweets and retweets) with the prominent players in our report such as, Angana Chatterji, Nitasha Kaul, StandWithKashmir, Ather Zia.

He also deleted his tweets on Naml University.

However all these deleted tweets are present in the archives.

Audrey Truschke

Audrey Truschke’s Twitter handle has been created in Oct, 2010. However her first tweet on Twitter is on Feb 2, 2018.

However her tweets from 2016 are present on the archives. She had Only 3661 Followers then.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://twitter.com/AudreyTruschke