The Hijab controversy in Karnataka seems to be fuelled by Pakistan as more than 100 Twitter accounts in the name of Muskan Khan have been created since February 9, after her video went viral on the Internet where she is seen chanting ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ when allegedly heckled by a group of miscreants, according to top Intelligence sources. One of Twitter accounts in the name of Muskan had on February 11 thanked the Taliban for their “support”.
Another Twitter handle in Muskan’s name, which has been existing since December 2019 with around 37,000 followers, has all the tweets deleted after the hijab controversy.
One of the multiple fake accounts has nearly 5,000 followers with earlier location traced to Pakistan, the sources said. The geographical location of the account was recently changed to Karnataka, which is the epicentre of the hijab row. These fake accounts are using popular hashtags on the hijab row, with maximum tweets originating from Pakistan. In fact, Pakistan’s major social media mouthpiece Haqeeqat TV did a full show on the hijab controversy.
According to Radio Pakistan, the official state broadcaster, pro-Khalistan groups such as ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ) have called upon Muslims in India to start the Hijab referendum movement to carve out ‘Urduistan’ in areas of Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
SFJ Gurpatwant Singh Pannu has also threatened the Modi government on the issue, and has demanded a new Muslim country.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has changed her profile picture on Twitter to the photograph of a girl, who resembles like Muskan, covered in hijab raising her hand in an act of sloganeering.
According to top intelligence sources, Pakistan is “desperately trying to disturb peace and tranquillity” of India. Though Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) has been on the back foot since the Abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir in August 2019, it wants to enter other parts of the country.
Pakistan has quite successfully managed to capture the digital space pouring vitriol against India, and create fear and disturbance on social media. “We are exploring and finding out if any funding came for this project,” said top Indian intelligence sources.
