As taken from sources of Southern Methodist University, Dr. Joseph Goebbels was the Third Reich’s propaganda minister. After the WW2, US soldiers came upon a massive notebook that Goebbels had dictated. It contains his propaganda guiding concepts. They are described in Leonard Doob’s 1950 essay based on Louis Lochner’s (1948) translation of the diaries. Here are the basic principles of Gobbles’ propaganda;
Repeat lies till accepted as truth.
There is no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, and this will always be “the man in the street.” Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology.
Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred. Black rather than white propaganda must be employed when the latter is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
Avoid abstract ideas; appeal to the emotions. Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
Give only one side of the argument. Continuously criticise your opponents. Pick out one special “enemy” for special vilification.
Did PTI information managers derive their hate campaign against state institutions from Goebbels’s principles, this is the most important question being analysed in this paper, but before that, we would like to quote another example of mass mind control and injection of hate from the pages of pre-WW1 America.
Woodrow Wilson, who was elected President of the United States in 1912, assumed office in 1913 with what was widely regarded as a neutral foreign policy. Wilson set out to keep the United States out of WW1, which started in 1914, and to use the nation as a peacemaker for other nations.
In August 1914, Germany, Russia, France, and a great number of other nations were involved in fighting in Europe. Wilson offered assistance to the Allies in 2017 despite his best efforts to avoid war. The continued attacks by German submarines forced America into the conflict.
Convincing the American public of the war’s necessity was Woodrow Wilson’s and his administration’s greatest obstacle. This brought about foundation of a promulgation machine called the Creel Board, which transformed the serene American public into a warmongering country inside a range of a half year.
PTI’s information managers appear to have been influenced by Joseph Goebbels and Nazi propaganda apparatus built by the party in early twenties in 20 century as well as Creel Committee of Woodrow Wilson.
Khan’s media handlers and devious backers from London and North America began assembling their own Creel Committee, which would spout “Hymns of Hate” around the clock, originally directed against the political establishment and then focusing on the Army, ISI, and its rank and file. A covert effort was made to transform IK from a politician into a cult leader in parallel with these “hymns of hate.”
This helped Imran Khan get support from disgruntled youth who were searching for the ultimate savior, but it also gave his close-knit support group the mistaken notion that Khan was a crisis manager and Pakistan’s strongman who could turn dirt into gold. The PTI had been developing a narrative that the Pakistan Army was the albatross around Pakistan’s neck and needed to be dismantled and rebuilt in accordance with the cult leader’s objectives.
What aims did these songs of hatred pursue?
The Army and ISI were to be undermined, and a chasm was to be created between the top leadership and the rank and file. In an effort to upend the Pakistan Army’s chain of command, storytelling, trivia, insults, and dark gossip were initiated on social media, particularly by a group of disgruntled and runaway retired veterans who are playing in the hands of hostile intelligence agencies. While defending their devotion to the PTI, these so-called insiders have continued to wage violent media assaults against the senior leadership of the Pakistan Army and the ISI.
It may also be important to compare the era of PTI regime with previous political parties to debunk the propaganda of human rights violations being propagated by Imran Khan and his head honchos today:
Serious violations of human rights were committed against political opponents, journalists and political workers during Imran Khan’s regime. Under Imran Khan, every dissenting voice was silenced, harassed, or forcibly disappeared. Curbs on freedom of speech and human rights violations against journalists during PTI regime has a long list.
There is also a list of political revenge; Rana Sanaullah drug case, raid on properties of political opponents, raid on parliament lodges and raids on house of Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Mashhood. Due to the PTI’s fascist politics, the European Union started considering the termination of Pakistan’s GSP and status.
Imran Khan’s cult followers were incited by indoctrination against political rivals. The unfortunate incident of attack on political rivals inside the premises of Masjid-e-Nabawi is a case in point. Imran Khan uses political leaders, allies and party activists as toys for his nefarious ambitions. Because of his fascist policies, his own party members have started to separate from him.
Imran Khan incited the people against his own institutions but failed. Imran Khan used all kinds of clever tactics and black propaganda to incite the people. The tragic events of May 9 has revealed the true nature of Imran Khan to the public. People love their institutions and will never be a part of any fascist agenda.