Latest news with #HilalTalks2025
Express Tribune
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
No power can detach Balochistan from Pakistan: DG ISPR
Listen to article Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry reaffirmed that Balochistan is an integral part of Pakistan and that no power can detach it from the country. 'Balochistan is part of Pakistan and will always remain so,' he declared, adding, 'No one can separate it.' Addressing educators during the Hilal Talks 2025 programme organised by the military's media wing on Monday, the DG ISPR dismissed the narrative of Balochistan's separatism as baseless, asserting that the province is deeply integrated into Pakistan's economy and society. 'The propaganda that Balochistan can be separated is unfounded,' he said. 'Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Balti – we are all brothers and united. No one can divide us,' he affirmed. The military spokesperson warned that India and its proxies pose a grave threat to regional peace, providing full financial support from New Delhi to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army, locally referred to as 'Fitna al-Hindustan'. 'There is no idea or ideology behind the terrorism in Balochistan – it is entirely India-sponsored.' He added that India alone bears responsibility for the destabilisation across the region. He also highlighted the enduring bond between the people and the armed forces, calling it a 'timeless relationship of love.'
Arab News
29-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Pakistan army launches teachers' awareness program on online ‘anti-state' propaganda
ISLAMABAD: In a first, the Pakistan army's media wing has launched the Hilal Talks 2025 program to raise awareness among Pakistani teachers about the 'tactics and nefarious agendas of anti-state elements' on social media, Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday. While India and Pakistan announced a ceasefire after coming close to an all-out conflict earlier this month, social media citizens on both sides are vying to control public perceptions by peddling disinformation. Platforms such as Facebook and X are still awash with misrepresented footage of the attacks that killed at least 70 people and sent thousands fleeing from their shared de facto Line of Control (LoC) border. 'Hilal Talks 2025 program has been launched under the auspices of ISPR,' Radio Pakistan reported, saying 1,950 teachers from various regions of the country were participating in the program run by the army's media wing. 'It is aimed at raising awareness about the tactics and nefarious agendas of anti-state elements on social media.' The report said teachers 'got the opportunity to understand the structure, role and working mechanism of Pakistan Army more closely.' Indian and Pakistani media outlets have both amplified misinformation, including false or unverifiable claims of military victories that experts say have exacerbated tensions and contributed to a flood of hate speech. Disinformation peaked when India launched deadly air strikes on May 7 targeting 'terrorist camps' in Pakistan, two weeks after a deadly attack on the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir. New Delhi blames Islamabad for backing the April 22 attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam, which killed 26 people — almost all of them Hindu men. Pakistan denies the claim. After the first round of Indian air strikes, the Pakistani military shared footage that had previously circulated in reports about a 2023 Israeli air strike in Gaza. The clip quickly appeared on television and social media but was later retracted by numerous media outlets, including AFP. AI-generated imagery has also muddied the waters, including a video that purportedly shows a Pakistan Army general saying the country lost two of its aircraft. AFP fact-checkers found the clip was altered from a 2024 press conference. Both India and Pakistan have taken advantage of the information vacuum to raise alarm bells and promote their own claims and counter-claims. Pakistan appears to have lifted a more than one-year-old ban on X the same day of the Indian strikes. Pakistan's National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) on May 8 issued an alert about 'increased cyberattacks and misinformation via emails, social media, QR codes, and messaging apps.' Both Pakistan's Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Karachi Port Trust later said their X accounts had been hacked. A post from the latter account said the port — one of South Asia's busiest — was attacked by the Indian military. The page was later restored and the port authority said no attack had taken place. India, meanwhile, has executed a sweeping crackdown targeting the social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations. The government ordered X to block more than 8,000 accounts and banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading 'provocative' content, including news outlets. Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check, a government-run website, has also refuted more than 60 claims about the ongoing crisis, many having to do with supposed Pakistani military victories. The avalanche of disinformation online has also been accompanied by a spike in hate speech offline. With inputs from AFP
