Home Ministry to convene high-level meeting to check ‘keypad jihadis’
The Home Ministry will be holding a high-level meeting on Monday to discuss the removal of malicious content from various social networking sites posted by “keypad jihadis”, who spew venom on the Internet with an intent to create a law and order situation by spreading rumours or giving communal colour to any event.
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba will chair the meeting and attended, among others, by top officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications and those from security agencies as well as Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
They said the meeting is to discuss the implementation of the provisions of Information Technology on security agencies in dealing with the menace which includes the filing of FIRS, removal of the malicious content at the earliest in coordination with the service provider and ensuring speedy legal proceedings so that it could act as a deterrent for others.
The idea behind the crackdown on “keypad jihadis” was to ensure that the security agencies could concentrate more on nabbing or eliminating terrorists with real guns rather than those who wage war against the state machinery using keypads.
It is a virtual battleground where a bloody war is fought, but with words. However, this has an impact on the young minds, officials opined.
They added that the new battleground is far removed from the conventional weaponry and fighting zones and new-age jihadis use computers and smartphones to wage war from just about anywhere in Kashmir valley or outside, well entrenched inside their homes or out on the streets, from a nearby cafe or even just a convenient roadside.
The social chat groups are active not just in Jammu and Kashmir. They are seeing participation from youngsters in the national capital, the rest of the country and abroad as well.
Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had registered cases against five Twitter handles and filed complaints with service providers against misleading posts on Facebook and Whatsapp so that necessary action could be taken at the earliest.