SECURITY agencies in Jammu and Kashmir are grappling with a new and insidious threat in the form of “bedroom jihadis” -- people who manipulate social media from the safety of their homes to spread misinformation and incite communal discord, officials said. This kind of enemy, far removed from the traditional armed terrorists, is at the heart of a sophisticated cross-border effort to destabilise the region, the officials said.

 

An in-depth investigation has uncovered a network of social media handles, believed to be controlled by terror groups and their sympathisers in Pakistan, that have been actively intruding into local digital spaces, disseminating inflammatory content and propaganda with the clear objective of creating sectarian clashes and unrest in the Kashmir valley. “After years of fighting armed terrorists, security agencies have been facing this hidden enemy in which these new-age jihadis use computers and smartphones to wage war from just about anywhere, spreading rumours and influencing youths,” an official in the know of the developments said. The trend emerged in 2017 but ended after an effective crackdown with curbs on the Internet post abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.