Dr. Arsalan Khalid, focal person to Prime Minister Imran Khan on digital media, in the presence of numerous digital media organizations, on Monday addressed the sectarian issues in Pakistan and claimed that the majority of sectarian trends on Pakistani social media had originated and were operating from outside of Pakistan.
It's my humble request and submission to all social media commentators to be careful & refrain from passing remarks on serious issues tht they dn't hav first hand knowledge & in their innocence are contributing to an orchestrated sectarian debate started from outside Pakistan.
— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) September 17, 2020
Recently there has been an apparent and visible spike in sectarianism across Pakistan, especially after the month of Muharram. The sectarian sentiments on social media platforms have also converted into protests across the country.
Two anti Shia HTs had major contribution from accs operated in India and some other countries. Understand the issue first and then do the criticism
— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) September 18, 2020
Indian tweets fueling sectarian hatred
Dr. Arsalan stated that since 2018, there has been a surge in Indian accounts tweeting against Pakistan in attempts to spark chaos. He further stated that the online and offline world is now very much connected, and a sudden spike in sectarian hate online resulted in protests on the streets of Pakistan. Mapping of these social media hashtags from varying accounts can be seen in the picture below, which shows that a majority of accounts are outside Pakistan, said a researcher and data scientist from Karachi whose Twitter handle is @shobz.
Individuals fueling extremism, chaos will be dealt with harshly
Dr. Khalid also claimed that anti-Pakistan journalists, based abroad also helped spark the massive sectarian rift, and stated that party leaders who were fueling the sentiments of extremism should be careful to act more cautiously otherwise the government would take action against the individuals.
As expected the speech writers of todays speech spreading Anti Pakistan propaganda.Indian media will join soon just like all the previous episodes where PML-N, the usual lot and Indian characters operate as network to ptopagate their anti Pakistan agenda. pic.twitter.com/6l8lxK3fny
— Dr Arslan Khalid (@arslankhalid_m) September 20, 2020
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Dr. Arsalan, on government’s behalf, assured protection of rights of all Pakistani citizens regardless of faith and said that those contributing to fueling hate will be dealt with in iron-hand despite their political affiliation.
چند دن پہلےہونےوالےفرقہ وارنہ ٹرینڈزمیں حصہ لینےوالےاسی فیصدکےقریب اکاؤنٹس بھارتی تھے۔آن لائن جوبات بھی ہوتی ہےاسکااثربحرحال آف لائن دنیا تک جاتاہے۔اس لئےسب کوذمہ داری کا مظاہرہ کرکےپاکستان کےباہر سےکسی کو ملکی حساس معاملات پرانتشارپھیلانےکی اجازت نہیں دینی چاہئے@arslankhalid_m pic.twitter.com/5uYnZFPKBC
— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 19, 2020
Dr. Arsalan speaking on behalf of the government ensured the protection of rights for all sects and all factions of Pakistan regardless of their beliefs and religious proclivity and the ones fueling chaos, extremism and sectarianism will be dealt with in a stern manner.
GVS News Desk with additional input by other sources