Terrorism is a psychological warfare. Terrorists try to
manipulate us and change our behaviour by creating fear, uncertainty, and
division in society. (Patrick J. Kennedy)
Information is a powerful weapon and its undeterred use in hybrid warfare is
capable to stir up great impacts. The hybrid warfare being so diverse and
unconventional is a hard target challenge for any nation to deal with and can
create confusion, ignite it into a chaos generating a nationwide crisis and
venting into anarchy.
The very recent incident of causing a public reaction through information
dissemination was witnessed when the polio vaccination campaign started here on
Monday, 22nd April. The polio eradication team administered polio drops in a
private school in Mashokhel, KPK which was followed by the Principal of the
school making a complaint of few children getting sick after the polio
vaccination. Polio eradication team and a doctor catering to the complaint
checked the children and declared them okay. By time the parents were informed
and the children were taken to the hospital. A Hayatabad medical complex
reportedly received 78 children and were checked through taking basic medical
tests were found and reported as stable and healthy.
But the incident didn’t stop there and the news of children getting sick from
administration of the polio vaccine spread like wildfire and dozens upon dozens
rushed to the hospitals bringing their kids for check-ups and emergency
handling.In charsada alone around 800 children were hospitalized.
The news spread swiftly and by late resulted in the announcements coming from
local Mosques’ loudspeakers to not let their children get polio vaccination and
in case their children have already been vaccinated, they must rush as soon as
possible to a nearby medical facility for emergencyas few children have already
lost their lives due to the reaction. These announcements blazed the flames of
confusion and from dozens the number of children brought to the hospitals raised
to hundreds and reportedly reached to thousands. The doctors managed the
frightened children for first aid. Most were released after given treatments to
nausea. Their blood and urine samples were tested and most were professedas
okay. The health providers reported the frightened children to be going through
a psychological reaction to panic rather than any medical condition or reaction
to vaccination.
As the rumours spread and the announcements from mosques added fury to the
anger, the public reaction stimulated into panic which resulted in mayhem. The
angry crowd attacked a health centre in Peshawar. Throwing out stones at the
mini hospital the building caught fire and the whole facility was left broken,
damaged and burnt. The slogans cried against the provincial health authorities
and the aggression was multiplied many folds when broadcasted on media and a
wave of anger and disbelief spread through the entire country.
The magnitude of the incident called for an investigation into the matter to
sort out the facts. By evening the initial investigation into the matter
cascaded the facts that the whole matter was nothing but a hoax. Out of
thousands of children brought to the hospital, none had developed any adverse
effect symptoms for the vaccine. Few kids were examined and treated for nausea
and vomiting though but their underlying cause was something else and not the
vaccine itself. Moreover, the stock of vaccines administered in the affected
area was tested and found to be satisfactory and not expired at all.
Furthermore, the provincial healthbody of KPK stated that the investigation will
flow to the conspirators who staged the panic and created a false alarm to
trigger panic in the region.
The whole episode unveiled the dangerous play of hybrid warfare and its
appalling effects. With the social media and broadcasting tools surging with
technological opportunities, it iseven easier to disseminate a fake distress and
stage a chaos. The panic and the rush the parents went through weretragic and no
parent should have to face such a situation with their children. The fear it
conjured, and the agitated protests this fear ignited, left the Basic Health
unit destroyed, parents confused and worried and the polio vaccination campaign
hampered all over the country.
That is no secret that who benefits with creating such havoc in the country. The
anti-state elements who want to de-stabilize Pakistan can go to any extents in
acquiring their objectives. It is not the first time that the polio campaign was
targeted. Previously there were several incidents where the polio teams were
attacked and we lost precious lives in this cause.
Polio or poliomyelitis is an infectious disease which is deadly and causes
crippling. Caused by poliovirus, it is also contagious and spreads from person
to person and by invading the infected person’s brain or spinal cord causes
paralysis. The very nature of the virus as easily transmittable and spreads with
person to person contact makes it lethal as one infected person can spread the
virus around infecting other persons. Paralysis is the most severe symptom of
the virus and causes permanent disability or death. From 2% to 10% of the
poliovirus infected persons die because the virus affects the muscles that help
a person breathe. It is usually spread through contaminated water in unhygienic
conditions and can also spread with cough or sneeze. It usually affects children
under the age of 5. To eradicate polio, vaccination isdirected either through
inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). In
Pakistan OPV are administered to children under five in the polio eradication
campaigns carried out by the government of Pakistan. In Pakistan, complete polio
eradication has not been possible as yet. As per the stats till October 2018, 8
wild polio cases have been reported and environmental samples from 27 districts
were reported to be infected. With 57 environmental detection sites, 260000
frontline workers, 2100 social mobilizers and an overall 95% acceptance of the
vaccination, 97% reduction in polio cases have been achieved since 2014.
But this reduction is futile, if 100% eradication is not accomplished because
one infected case can pose threat to the several others. An anti-polio
resentment has prevailed making it even more challenging for the polio teams to
vaccinate the children. Through social service messages broadcasted, the masses
are constantly being educated to not let their children be vulnerable to the
deadly virus.
However, the confusion on the matter of vaccination by few has been taken as a
vulnerability by the anti-state agents and exploited time & again. Security
forces have had to step up and provide defence to the mobile teams operating in
various parts of the country. From bomb blasts and targeted killings of polio
teams in the past to the recent spreading of fake news regarding the reaction of
the vaccine, it has been netted to the same threat of de-stabilizing Pakistan
from within. With the fast dissemination of the news and the exaggerated
narrations and announcements from local mosques, the scheme was crafty,
deliberate and successful to mobilize the masses over fake news. The government
representatives narrated their resolve to further investigate the matter and
uncover the source and facilitators of this hoax.
A day after this incident, the polio team was again attacked and an ASI lost his
life while defending the team trying to protect our children against this deadly
virus. And two more cases of polio in children came to surface in KPK after two
days of this incident which is alarming and reiterates the resolve that polio
eradication is an eminent necessity and calls for a collective exertion to
safeguard our children.
This calls for creating a social awareness campaign on multiple levels. Foremost
is clearing out confusions the parents have regarding the effectiveness and
side-effects of the vaccinations. Secondly the loudspeakers of the mosques must
not be used to create havoc and no news must be shared and broadcasted on media
before confirming its validity. Thirdly the incident was an act of terrorism;
devised, facilitated and executed to stage mayhem. The timing was crucial as the
news of death of Nishwa; a 9-month old baby girl who died with negligence of
hospital had just put the whole nation in a state of sorrow and made parents
amenable to the fright of getting their children sick with the administration of
wrong vaccine.
The investigation agencies must dig out the culprits and matter should be
publically prosecuted to make masses aware of their enemies and all political
and field facilitators of these terrorists must also be called out and dealt
with as per terrorism act. Any act against the citizens of Pakistan is an act of
war and best defence against polio virus is a good offense of vaccination.