Bengaluru: There was always a suspicion, but now there is a confirmation with respect to the Pakistan link to the ongoing protests in India against the newly amended citizenship law.

The Intelligence agencies have pieced together evidence of the Pakistan link to the protests based on the chatter that has been picked up. There has been plenty of chatter for the past couple of months and these have been very specific to the protests.

Where are the crowds:

The chatter that has been picked up suggests that a handler in Pakistan is cursing one of the organisers in India about the lack of crowds. A report in the Hindustan Times cites one such call in which a person from Pakistan is heard telling his contact that the crowds during a March 3-4 protest was just not enough, despite the funding.
This now comes as clear confirmation about an external link to the protests. The funding from Pakistan is spoken about and the manner in which one of the organisers is being pulled up for the lack of crowds clearly indicates the external link.

Radicalised and paid to defame:

A section of the media has often referred to the grit and struggle of the Muslim women at Shaheen Bagh. They have not relented and one wonders why they are protesting against the citizenship law, when it does not affect them.
Who is funding these women, who have been sitting in protest for several months now. They have blocked roads and caused inconvenience to the public. They say that they want Union home minister Amit Shah to intervene. However, according to former Research and Analysis Wing officer, Amar Bhushan, one cannot negotiate with a mob. Bhushan told MyNation that no amount of coaxing is going to work as these are a highly radicalised bunch of people. Their demands have no meaning and they are protesting against a law that does not affect them, but is aimed at giving a home to the persecuted minority. The Pakistan link to this does not surprise me one bit, he also said.

Recruitment drive:

For Pakistan, funding these protests serves many purposes. Ever since Narendra Modi came to power, he has had a no-nonsense approach towards Pakistan. The surgical strikes post Uri and the Balakot hit post Pulwama is a signal that he is not going to take Pakistan’s nonsense lying down.

Since the abrogation of Article 370, India declared that Kashmir is an internal matter. Pakistan has on several occasions raised this issue on international platforms but has failed. Now, by funding these protests, it is aiming at hitting two birds with one stone. Pakistan wants violence so that it can embarrass India and also use it as a recruitment tool for its terrorist organisations. 
Pakistan has at the ongoing meeting of the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva tried to equate the recent Delhi riots to the one that took place in Gujarat in 2002. It is raising issues such as persecution of Muslims in India, but has had very little success. 

Terror groups on overdrive mode:

With the protests turning violent periodically, terror groups have been on an overdrive mode. They have been using images of the riots to recruit Muslims. This is exactly what Pakistan had planned and the Indian Muslims walked right into the trap.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that both the international terror groups as well as the home grown outfits have been using these protests as a recruitment tool. They are paid handsomely by Pakistan through their handlers in India to carry out this drive. Further, we are also keeping a close watch on the pro-Pakistan NGOs, which have been bringing in funds through hawala channels and funding both the protests as well as the recruitment of Indian Muslims into terror groups.