THIS is with reference to the report “Police arrest ‘RAW-linked’ youth in AJK” (April 17), according to which, a first-year student in Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) had been arrested for alleged links to the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The arrest deserves more than routine security commentary. It was not an isolated incident; it was a textbook operation, and a warning that Pakistan’s response to this growing threat remains dangerously inadequate.

Hostile intelligence agencies employ a methodology that is low-cost, scalable and devastatingly effective because it exploits predictable human behaviour.

It begins with grooming — friendly exchanges, genuine-seeming interest and modest financial relief. Trust is established patiently before any meaningful request is made. What follows leverages a rather well-documented psychological principle: once someone consistently complies with small requests, internal pressure builds to remain consistent with earlier behaviour. Each subsequent step feels natural. Refusal becomes uncomfortable. This is not naivety; it is a deeply human response, and the entire operation is engineered around it.

A photograph, a location pin or a brief video each appears insignificant in isolation. Operationally, geotagged images pinpoint sensitive locations, repeated interactions map routines, and aggregated data builds actionable intelligence. The sophistication lies in making every individual step feel inconsequential while the cumulative picture grows.

Pakistanis working remotely for foreign companies are already accustomed to foreign instructions, international payments and cross-border professional relationships. These individuals, mostly young, present ideal cultivation targets. The compliance habits that make someone a reliable employee are the same mechan-isms hostile agencies exploit. The cover is already established and the transition from professional contact to intelligence asset can happen imperceptibly.

Most individuals sense, at some point, that something is wrong. Only a few come forward. Shame, fear of legal conse-quences, and the discomfort of having participated, however unwittingly, suppress disclosure. From a counterintelligence standpoint, this silence is invaluable to hostile agencies, buying time to deepen control and extract greater intelligence value. Systems that treat early disclosure as self-incrimination actively enable this dynamic.

Arrests, as the one reported recently, address symptoms, but our priority must focus on prevention. The departments concerned and educational institutions must teach recognition of grooming patterns as a core competence. Reporting mechanisms must be genuinely protective, not punitive. Families must foster open conversations about online experiences without judgment.

Pakistan faces a calculated, asymmetric threat. Hostile agencies study human vulnerabilities professionally and patiently. Every unreported case is both a personal tragedy and an operational gain for our adversaries. The answer is not in the fear of digital engagement. It is in spreading informed, institutionalised awareness, psychological resilience and security literacy working together. Until that becomes national policy, the case in Rawalakot will not be the last; it will be the most recent warning we failed to pay heed to.

Sqn-Ldr (retd) Uzma Syed
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2026