Indian intelligence agencies have begun conducting security checks on Turkish-linked charities that have been suddenly activated in Jammu and Kashmir over the past year after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a strident speech at the General Assembly of Nations. United last year which mirrored that of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. launch in Kashmir, people familiar with the matter said.
A national security planner said that the intelligence investigation also covers the role of people connected to non-profit organizations with close ties to Turkey and prepares a full report on their activities, open and otherwise.
A more intensive investigation could later be ordered against identified groups and individuals believed to have crossed the red lines, he said. The second level investigation could include a detailed analysis of the foreign funds received and their use.
The move follows multiple reports from India’s intelligence community in recent months that pointed to efforts to radicalize Indian Muslims in Kashmir and other parts of the country. Then analysts pointed out that Ankara’s attempt to expand its influence in the context of President Erdogan’s speech to challenge Saudi Arabia’s dominance in the Islamic world on a global level and to offer a conservative and reshaped Turkey with Ottoman traditions as a role model for Islamic nations.
Intelligence reports had also detected an increase in the activities of NGOs linked to Turkey in Kashmir and other parts of the country, some of them linked to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The growth of its activities coincided with a change in the tenor and scope of the reports and analytical articles on Kashmir in the Turkish media that reflect the Pakistani point of view. In addition, the Turkish national media are using people who have deep ties to Kashmir separatists to attack India.
An intelligence report recently submitted to the government has pointed to efforts by NGOs linked to Turkey to reach Kashmiris with help during Ramzan. Some others have been hosting webinars and other events where topics such as the amended citizenship law, riots, and hate crimes are discussed. One official said that the narratives projected in these interactions online and on social media are provocative.
“These are not discussions in which different points of view are presented, but are intended to reinforce fears around Islamophobia in India,” the official said.
Islamophobia has been a recurring theme in Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offensive against the Indian government for about a year and he had tried to weave a narrative around it in the Gulf countries and other Islamic majority countries.
Erdogan was seen to be working on this narrative earlier this year when he lashed out at India over the Delhi riots. “India has now become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By whom? Hindus, ”Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara in February.
India had later denounced his “irresponsible” statement which, according to the Foreign Ministry, was driven by his “political agenda.”
“The comments are factually inaccurate and driven by his political agenda. We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a Head of State, ”the ministry had said.
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