In the last decade, social media has stormed the world and has become a source of information, news, narrative building and exposing the truth. In Pakistan, where otherwise literacy rate remains lowest in Asia, the internet has linked, educated and informed people who are otherwise disconnected from the world completely, even in faraway small towns and villages. Use of the internet for E-businesses, E-money, YouTubers and influencers, to name a few, has provided bread and butter to many families.
The negative usage and impact of social media in the case of Pakistan is, however, a much bigger quagmire as compared to the rest of the world; use of negative propaganda and fake news dissemination by certain enemies of the State, within and outside of the country, to create uncertainty, unrest and loathing against the institutions and political opponents, is not hidden anymore.
I am in many WhatsApp groups where supporters of a particular political group have shared news, videos and images over the past few weeks. A sane and unbiased person can clearly know after a brief look or fact search at such shared material whether it is real or fake, edited, fabricated and fictitious. Most often, images and videos that are from the past or other countries are shared with captions relevant to recent happenings in the country. This is nothing new for someone who has closely monitored Pakistani social media for a decade. A few elements within the country with vested interests and anti-State agenda have been using such tactics to misguide youth and general users of social media, who are too naive or ignorant to judge the stark difference between facts and cooked-up lies.
Many things in our religion are symbolic; therefore, if we closely observe and analyze the working and impact of social media on our minds and lives, it won’t be an exaggeration when I say social media is the third eye and a prelude to the prophecy of the much feared Fitna of Dajjal. It doesn’t make any sense to many who think only scientifically or are otherwise disbelievers, but for a person like me who is more into the spiritual side of religion and the world, this theory has eventually started to unfold.
Let me explain this in a simpler way.
What we see or hear today on the internet, most of it comes from a third source without much proof and fact checks. The information is then shared and replayed over a period of time until the half-truths and complete lies are embedded in our minds as facts and truth. That instigates a process of indoctrination, targeted by certain elements within the society to achieve their goals which are in contrast with the cultural, social, religious and political norms and structure. I am not emphasizing here that, as a society, we are perfect; we have our shortcomings and have a lot of room for improvement and advancement, but ideally in a positive and productive way. The elements in the discussion are the opposite of positivity and progress, with the disguised agenda of dismantling and weakening the social structure through the brainwashing of immature and inexperienced minds in order to create cracks where they can pour the poison of hate, bigotry and rebellion.
Political, social media cells, pseudo-liberals, half-learned self-proclaimed religious scholars, individuals and NGOs backed and funded by international think tanks and lobbies, to name a few, have successfully achieved the target of slowly but steadily poisoning the minds of Pakistani social media users within the country and a large number of ex-pats, who have no idea or connection with the truth and ground realities.
May 9, 2023, and the fateful events that followed in Pakistan are a continuity and result of this fitna.
In today’s world, wars are seldom fought and won on battlefields. Those who understand the reality and significance of fifth-generation warfare and show profound competence in it are the ultimate winners of the wars against the State. If we have to survive as a nation and a country, we will have to fight this war together, with the firm belief that it is not just any war; it is The War against the False Messiah that has been foretold centuries ago and is unfolding in front of our eyes, horrifically and dramatically.
