The ruling Peoples Democratic Party in J&K is preparing its cadre for a ‘virtual’ war of narratives, emanating in and outside the State.
It has approached Delhi and Mumbai-based consultancies to groom its young cadre on the social media tools “to generate a positive narrative on Kashmir”.
A Delhi-based information technology firm trained 16 PDP workers this month in the national capital on the use of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“The social media is a reality and has largely influenced the real world. We are a young State with youth population up to 69%, which is social media-driven generation. We, as government as well as a party, are encouraging youth to get training and attend workshops for social media sensitisation,” PDP youth wing president and J&K Sports Council secretary Waheed Parra told The Hindu .
The party says the efforts are neither aimed “to create any trolls nor out to do perceptions management” in Kashmir but “create positivity”. It is planning to groom youth under the age of 30 in all districts of the State.
“The government has its arms to manage perceptions. We do not intend to enter that space. The idea is that in today’s information society, the youth should use the social media rather than end up getting used by it,” said Mr. Parra.
The party and the government, Mr. Parra said, was also worried by “a huge campaign across the country to project Kashmir as violent”.
“We want the world to know about good stories happening here. We want them to know our views too,” said Mr. Parra. Our leaders will tweet and retweet every positive story emanating from here, he added.
The party is also aiming at reaching out at the grassroots level in the constituencies. These trained youth leaders will highlight government projects at the constituency level and seek people’s feedback on issues facing them. It is identifying youth in different fields such as sports, education, arts.
“These people need to learn positive use of the social media,” said the PDP leader.
