After a government report exposed the role of Pakistan-based elements in stirring up violence through circulation of morphed images, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Sunday asked his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik to take immediate action against those responsible for it.
Citing the report, Shinde expressed concern over misuse of social networking sites by Pak elements to circulate false pictures and stories to fan communal fire in India.
The 43-page report, probing the role of social media in spreading panic among the people of Northeast, laid bare the role of a Pak-based socio-political group for circulating doctored images and videos through social networking sites.
Sources in the Home Ministry said security agencies had identified three persons based out of Mumbai, Delhi and Agra who might have played a key role in circulating the material.
The MHA report revealed that the circulation of images and videos on YouTube started after July 13 when the situation in lower Assam became tensed after initial clashes between Bodos and illegal immigrant community.
Elements based in Pakistan are using social media sites for dissemination of exaggerated accounts of the violence in Assam and circulating fabricated evidences to inflame the passion of Muslims in India during the fasting period of Ramzan, it said.
Over 80 websites that were used to circulate the pictures and videos have been blocked by the government, the Home Ministry sources added. more: P8, 10