Daily Times

In a recent address to the youth of Pakistan, Army Chief General Asim Munir Said, “Where are those who were crafting the narrative of Pakistan’s default now?”

As Muslims, we are discouraged from falling into despair.

He emphasized that it is the state’s responsibility to protect the public from the turmoil and discord caused by social media. The strong bond between the people, the government, and the military is the key to Pakistan’s security and progress. To understand the importance of an independent state, one should ask the people of Libya, Syria, Kashmir, and Gaza. He stated that the greatest and most valuable asset of Pakistan is its youth. We will not allow our precious youth to be wasted under any circumstances.

The Army Chief’s words are correct. The state must educate the younger generation and it is the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens from turmoil and discord. In recent times, baseless propaganda against the Pakistan Army has once again been circulating on social media, and enemy elements are using propaganda as a weapon to create a divide between the officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Army, tarnishing its image under the guise of politics.

Social media has become a weapon and a battlefield in this war, where the enemy is not visible.

Now, the primary tools of digital warfare are not planes, tanks, or missiles but diplomacy, TV, radio, newspapers, social media, film, and the economy. This battle is not fought on the ground but through the minds of the people.

It is not the bodies of people that are targeted but their minds. In this, the enemy does not deploy its forces within a country but instead uses the citizens of that country against it to achieve its objectives. Now, it is openly played out that actions are being taken to tarnish the image of the Pakistan Army by linking political steps with the Army to turn the youth against it.

The enemy is very cunning; it knows that if it fills the minds of Pakistan’s youth with poison against the Army, then it will not be difficult to subdue Pakistan because it is evident as day that the Pakistan Army is the force that guards our borders and protects the ideology of the two-nation theory.

If we talk about freedom of speech, Pakistan has much more freedom of expression compared to many countries around the world, where you can say anything to anyone.

If I give an example, India, which calls itself a champion of democracy and claims to be the world’s largest democracy, has recently imposed restrictions on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, and even raided Twitter’s office.

In China, Facebook, Twitter, and similar apps do not operate; they have a system under which people use social media. When we look at neighbouring countries, it becomes clear that, in comparison, people in Pakistan enjoy freedom of expression, but some misuse this freedom.

Freedom of expression does not mean that you air your dirty laundry in public under the guise of free speech. If someone is attempting suicide, we must stop them. Similarly, if someone is unaware of the harmful effects of social media, the state must protect them from these harms.

Now is the time to support our military and ensure that the army, which protects our borders, is not distracted from its core objectives by unnecessary entanglements because propaganda is a tool of fifth-generation warfare, and it is an important weapon in this ideological battle, where attempts are being made to impose false ideologies.

Social media has become a weapon and a battlefield in this war, where the enemy is not visible, but it tries to mentally paralyze people, taking control of their thoughts through the use of social media tools and turning them against their own country. When an impressionable mind comes to social media and is bombarded with the same narrative repeatedly, they are influenced by others’ thoughts, and this is where fifth-generation warfare begins: the corrupting of generations’ minds and turning them against their own country.

This country is ours, and protecting it and defending it is the duty of the Pakistan Army. Whenever the ideological foundation or the geographical borders of the country are attacked, the Pakistan Army, with the support of the people and the help of Allah, will prove to be an impenetrable wall against the enemy’s assault.

The enemy’s goal is to fill the people of Pakistan with so much filth and hatred against their own military and ideological foundations that they begin to despise their army and country but, God willing, this conspiracy of the enemy will fail because people have become aware of their tactics and will not fall into their trap.

The brave people of Pakistan will continue to stand by their army as they always have, and this fifth-generation war will backfire on the enemy and the bond of brotherhood and love between the Pakistan Army and the people will become even stronger.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.