Following the death of Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui at the hands of the Taliban, Indian liberals began drawing parallels between the Islamic terror outfit and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
It must be mentioned that Siddiqui faced criticism after his death for being insensitive to human emotions during his lifetime. The photojournalist had clicked pictures of burning funeral pyres of Covid-19 victims and also put them up for sale on Alamy. The Indian liberals, who were rejoicing the death of journalist Rohit Sardana, soon began accusing the ‘right-wing sanghis’ of tarnishing the image of Danish Siddiqui. As such, they started comparing the Taliban with the RSS.
Such a frivolous comparison was however unacceptable to their Muslim counterparts. The Islamists felt aghast at the thought of liberals associating the Sangh with their ‘Ummah’ and ‘Taliban.’ Given that maligning the Taliban is blasphemous as per their beliefs, the Islamists took to Twitter to express their outrage. When ‘liberal’ Joydas alleged that Taliban inspired the ‘right-wing scums’, an aggrieved Islamist (@OpusOfAli) asked, “Why the Muslims always have to be the villian?”
Screengrab of the tweet by Opus of Ali
Hanan, who has been bleeding for J&K since August 2019, claimed that comparing the Taliban with the RSS was wrong. “It is very funny because RSS is older than Taliban. If anything, it is the Taliban that would have taken some lessons from RSS not vice versa. On a more serious note, such parallels are drawn to show that the standard of any “evil” would always be Muslim,” he lamented.
Screengrab of the tweet by Hanan
When Congress worker Srivatsa tried to earn liberal brownie points by likening Afghan Taliban to ‘Indian Taliban’, Islamic terror sympathiser Sarfy tweeted, “The only ironic difference being that Afghans didn’t vote for the Afghan Taliban. They are rogue, created as a tool by the US against the Soviet Union. RSS is mainstream & gets celebrated & glorified. This irony is lost on us.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Sarfy
Popular Islamist Sidrah was visibly enraged and corrected Srivatsa immediately. She stated, “Hindutva majoritarianism and supremacy. Call it what it is. Please.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Sidrah
Twitter account ‘Muslim’ pleaded, “Why the false equivalence? It’s the Hindutva Terrorist who are rejoicing. Say as it is.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Muslim
Another Islamist, Rehman, wrote, “RSS was founded in 1925, Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. Taliban was emerged in 1994, maybe it’s the other way around. Hindu liberals should learn to criticise their scum without bringing in Muslims, Taliban, Saudi.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Rehman
While reacting to the tweet by ‘liberal’ Joydas, Islamist (@Ahmed_Brilliant) claimed, “Lesson 101: How to whitewash your own by drawing a false equivalence with Muslims.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Ahmed_Brilliant
One Talhan Hussain alleged that every Sanghi was borne out of a liberal father. With that assumption in mind, he slammed Joydas and wrote, “Taliban didn’t inspire RW, you guys enabled them.. Shut the eff up.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Talha Hussain
Islamist, who goes by the username @PrinceOfDhamp, insinuated that Veer Savarkar was somehow the one who inspired the Taliban to become radical. In a desperate attempt at sarcasm, he wrote, “Taliban (1994) invested heavily in Science, created time machine went back to Savarkar then influenced his thoughts. Savarkar formed RW organisation (1924) which inspired today’s RW Scums. Phew! Finally connected the dots.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Dhamp
As evident from the above tweets, Islamists in India were angry at the liberal community for tarnishing the image of the terror outfit Taliban. By drawing a false equivalence between the timelines of RSS and Taliban and eliminating the role of the latter in the death of Danish Siddiqui, Islamists have tried to somehow portray the ‘right wing ecosystem’/ Sangh/ RSS as the ‘greater evil.’ Through bizarre analogies, and the subtle art of humanisation, Islamists have been able to help terror outfits get a new brand makeover of sorts.
It is interesting to point out that several left-wing “liberal-secular” journalists paid tribute to Danish Siddiqui without mentioning the Taliban in their condolence message. Rana Ayyub spoke about Danish Siddiqui and his work revealing how he had a passion for photography. She also shared an image in which she was seen sitting next to the deceased journalist. The tone and tenor of the message, however, were rather perplexing. It appeared as if the photojournalist died as a consequence of some natural disease and was not murdered by Islamic terrorists. A similar strategy was employed by Manisha Pande from Newslaundry, Stuti Mishra, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Yogendra Yadav, and Ravish Kumar. It is not far-fetched to assume that it was perhaps the fear of Islamists that prevented them from calling a spade – a spade.
Surat-based businessman Mahesh Savani, who had joined Aam Aadmi Party a few weeks ago, was caught peddling fake news against the Gujarat government on Facebook.
On Sunday, AAP leader Mahesh Savani took to Facebook to share an image of power lines supported by a tree instead of electric poles and claimed that the Gujarat government has failed to repair the power infrastructure in the state, two months after Cyclone Tauktae hit the state.
Taking a dig at the Gujarat model and PM Modi’s vision of ‘Digital India’, the Aam Aadmi Party leader peddled disinformation, saying that the people of Gujarat have become self-dependant and repaired the power supply on their own by using a tree.
Image Source: nanditathhakur
However, in reality, the image shared by Savani is not related to India, instead, the image was captured in Pakistan.
A few weeks back, the same image was posted on Twitter by a Pakistani journalist named Khalid Mahmood Khalid. According to Khalid, the image was taken from Sindh province in Pakistan.
In his tweet in Urdu, Khalid mocked the Pakistani government, saying, “The Sindh government has introduced cheap electricity poles with ancient technology. Note: There is no risk of electric shock from this pole. Government of Sindh is at the forefront of public service”.
سندھ حکومت نے قدیم ٹیکنالوجی سے بجلی کے سستے کھمبے متعارف کرائے۔ نوٹ: اس کھمبے سے کرنٹ لگنے کا خدشہ نہیں رہتا عوامی خدمت میں پیش پیش سندھ حکومت? pic.twitter.com/F44BHxicA7
In his hurry to propagate lies against the Gujarat government and show the country in a poor light, AAP leader Mahesh Savani resorted to peddling blatant fake news.
Who is Mahesh Savani?
Recently, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had welcomed Surat businessman Mahesh Savani into Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Gujarat state assembly elections likely to be held in December 2022. The move, however, garnered intense criticism as Savani, a top realtor from Surat, was arrested in 2020 on allegations of extortion and kidnapping.
Savani, who also owns several educational institutes and is also an alleged social worker, was accused of kidnapping Gautam Patel (65) from his house and demanding Rs 19 crore for his release.
Patel and his business partner, who is now deceased, had allegedly borrowed money from Savani for an infrastructure project. Patel, who was liable to pay Rs 3 crore, could not do so, hence offered 60 per cent share in a plot of land. However, Savani could not recover his money and allegedly hatched a plan to kidnap Patel when he arrived in India for his son’s marriage.
Patel’s kidnapping by Savani and his aides was reportedly captured in the former’s CCTV footage installed at his residence.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India NV Ramana has said that the number of pending cases in Indian Courts do not determine whether the Judiciary is functioning properly or otherwise. According to him, the analysis that puts the figure at 45 million cases is also unfair and an exaggeration.
Pendency cannot be a useful indicator of how well or poorly a system is doing, CJI NV Ramana added
CJI NV Ramana made the comments at the India-Singapore Mediation Summit 2021. He said, “The often quoted statistic that pendency in Indian Courts has reached 45 million cases, which is perceived as the inability of the Indian judiciary to cope with the caseload is an overstatement and an uncharitable analysis.”
“Pendency cannot be a useful indicator of how well or poorly a system is doing,” he added. The CJI also said that “when things go wrong, the judiciary will stand by them”.
People, however, seemed to disagree with the CJI. They appeared to be rather angry with the sentiments expressed in the comment.
An institution that criticises the functioning of every other pillar of democracy without rhyme or reason doesn’t seem to accept the most blatant criticism of its actions. The SC has made us into a banana republic. https://t.co/Gor6w9n5kP
There are ~45 million cases pending in Indian courts. Some stupid fellow had, many years ago, commented that justice delayed is justice denied. Little did he know how wrong he was! https://t.co/Zh1zbX8yv3
CJI NV Ramana also said, “People are confident that they will get relief and justice from the judiciary. It gives them the strength to pursue a dispute. They know that when things go wrong, the judiciary will stand by them. The Indian Supreme Court is the guardian of the largest democracy.”
“The Constitution gives wide ranging powers and jurisdiction to do complete justice between the parties to bring to life the motto of the Indian Supreme Court, ‘Yato Dharmastato Jaya’, that is, ‘Where there is dharma, there is victory’,” he added.
According to the CJI, the Mahabharata provides an early example of mediation “where Lord Krishna attempted to mediate the dispute between the Pandavas and Kauravas”. He also blamed “luxurious mediation” for the pending cases “where parties with resources attempt to frustrate the judicial process and delay it by filing numerous proceedings across the judicial system.” He said that the Covid-19 pandemic has added to the Judiciary’s woes as well.
A message is going viral on social media which claims that Cadbury chocolates contain beef. A screenshot from a website is being circulated on social media platforms that says that if a product contains gelatine as an ingredient, that means it was derived from beef. Several people shared this screenshot to claim that Cadbury products sold in India contain beef. But the company says that the message is misleading as it does not relate to India, and its products sold in India do not contain any beef or any other meat-based ingredients.
Those proud Hindus who love Cadbury chocolates this is for you. @amul can use it as stepping stone to increase their chocolate sales. Expose @CadburyWorldpic.twitter.com/6e41hTbQxu
Many people also tagged the official handles of the company to clarify on the issue, and the company replied to them informing that screenshot shared by them is not related to Mondelez products manufactured in India. Mondelez International is the American company that owns the British company Cadbury now.
“All the products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian. The green dot on the wrapper signifies that,” the company stressed.
Hi Madhu, the screenshot shared in the Tweet is not related to Mondelez products manufactured in India. All the products manufactured and sold in India are 100% vegetarian. The green dot on the wrapper signifies that. -1/n
The company also requested people to verify facts related to their products before sharing them further. “As you can well imagine, negative posts like these, damages consumer confidence in our well-respected and loved brands,” the company responded to Twitter users who were spreading the viral claim.
Although the screenshot is indeed from a Cadbury website, the company is right when it says that it is not related to products sold in India. The screenshot contains the URL of the site, which is Cadbury.com.au, which means it is the website of the Australia unit of the company, as .au is the country code top-level domain for Australia.
The webpage shared in the viral message is available at the Halal section of the website, which means that it is talking about products sold in Australia.
This is not the first time the confectionary company had to respond to rumours about the ingredients of its products. People keep alleging from time to time that its popular chocolates contain beef. However, the packaging of its products contains a green dot, which means that it does not use any non-vegetarian ingredients. They only use plant-based and milk-based ingredients.
For example, the ingredients of Dairy Milk are listed as Sugar, Milk Solids, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifiers, apart from added flavours.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the products of Cadbury in India do not contain gelatine derived from gelatine, the viral message used information from Cadbury in Australia to claim it relates to India.
As part of the 2-day seized drug disposal program, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma drove a road roller on thousands of bottles of seized illegal cough syrups. The CM also set fire to seized drugs worth crores in an event held at Berhampur in Nagaon district.
#WATCH | Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma drives a bulldozer during a programme on 'Seized Drugs Disposal' in Nagaon. pic.twitter.com/3iNc3Ud3BY
The CM was participating in the event to destroy drugs worth Rs 36 crore seized by police in Nagaon district in the last two months. While the drugs like heroine, brown sugar, ganja and other narcotic products were burnt, a total of 78340 cough syrup bottles could not be burnt due to the huge quantity of liquid. Therefore, a road roller was used to destroy the bottles, and the CM inaugurated the same by driving the road roller himself on the seized bottles.
Apart from the illegal cough syrups, 9.733 kg heroin, 253.301 kg ganja, 977 opium, and 271904 nos. of tablets were burnt in the event.
For second consecutive day, @assampolice's dedicated tirade has led to destroying of 9.733 kg heroin, 253.301 kg ganja, 977 opium, 78340 cough syrup & 271904 nos. of tablets.
Later in the day at a separate event in Hojai, 353.62 grams of heroin, 736.73 kg ganja and 45,843 tablets were destroyed as part of the ‘seized drugs disposal’ program. Similarly, yesterday seized drugs were destroyed in Diphu and Golaghat.
The Assam government organised seized drug disposal programs yesterday and today at several places in the state to destroy various kinds of drugs caught in the last two months. According to the CM, seized drugs worth Rs 163.58 crore were destroyed in the last two days.
While most of the seized items are narcotic products, there were some pharmaceutical products obtained through illegal channels, thereby avoiding taxes. CM Sarma said that It involves evasion of GST and is a severe dent to the economy. He informed that the Assam govt is working in coordination with Manipur and Mizoram to eliminate drugs menace from North East India.
Destroying of seized drugs worth Rs 163.58 cr over last 2 days speaks volumes of the money involved in drugs trading. It involves evasion of GST & is a severe dent to economy. We’re working in coordination with Manipur & Mizoram to eliminate drugs menace from North East India 3/3 pic.twitter.com/vX9mntdfAV
“Some anti-social elements have been taking advantage of Assam’s proximity to Golden Triangle and using our land as transit routes for drugs trafficking. However, we’ve been firm in our resolve to handle this menace with strictest measures. The results are visible,” the CM tweeted, referring to the massive anti-drugs program launched by the Assam police on the instructions of Himanta Biswa Sarma after he became the CM.
The Golden Triangle that the CM mentioned refers to a mountainous region where the borders of Burma, Laos, and Thailand meet. It is Southeast Asia’s main opium-producing region and one of the oldest narcotics supply routes to Europe and North America. As several North-Eastern states share borders Myanmar, it is easy to smuggle drugs from the region to India through these states.
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan has instructed the Taliban and the Pakistani forces who have joined them to destroy symbols of Indian goodwill in Afghanistan, ANI has reported. According to intel inputs, around 10,000 Pakistanis have entered Afghanistan to assist the Islamic terrorist’s group in claiming the country.
According to an ANI report, Taliban and Pakistani fighters have been instructed by the ISI to target Indian-built assets & remove any signs of Indian goodwill work in the war-torn #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/GNJq6vVgA9
Intel inputs suggest that they have been specifically instructed to target Indian assets and gestures of goodwill by the Indian Government. India has invested $3 billion in the reconstruction efforts in the country over the past couple of decades that include the Afghan Parliament and the 218-km road between Delaram and Zaranj Salma Dam.
Only recently, an Indian photojournalist with Reuters was killed by the Taliban during clashes with Afghan forces. The Afghan Government had suggested earlier that they may seek military assistance from India in the near future.
“Should we not get to a stage in the peace process with the Taliban, then maybe a time (will come) where we would be seeking India’s military assistance, more military assistance in the years ahead,” Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India had said. However, the Afghan envoy has clarified that the war-torn country is not seeking Indian troops on its soil.
“We are not seeking India’s assistance with sending troops to Afghanistan. Their footprint in Afghanistan to fight our war would not be needed at this stage,” he said. The envoy added that the Afghan Air Force could benefit from Indian assistance, including in matters like pilot training—which he said India was “naturally” a place it would want involvement from.
Two days after the daughter of Afghan ambassador Najibullah Alikhil was abducted in Pakistan, a large group of Afghans protested outside the Pakistan embassy in Kabul.
The demonstrators raised slogans against the Pakistani military-backed establishment for failing to protect Silsila Alikhil, who was tortured for several hours in the custody of unknown individuals. WION journalist Sidhant Sibal shared the visuals of the protest on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
On Sunday (July 18), a case of kidnapping was lodged at the Koshar police station in Islamabad in connection to the abduction of Silsila Alikhil. Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the law enforcement agencies, Islamabad police and Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed to investigate the abduction case within 48 hours. He also pleaded with all the agencies to work in tandem with the federal police in catching the accused.
While speaking about the matter, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said, “From the market, she took a taxi to Khadda Market for shopping. We were able to know about this with the help of the Safe City Cameras.” He claimed that Alikhil took a taxi to Rawalpindi shopping mall. “The only gap [in the investigation] that we are facing is that how was she able to arrive at Daman-e-Koh from Rawalpindi,” he added. Rasheed further claimed, “We will present the entire, true picture in front of the world. After PM Khan’s ‘absolutely not’ stance received immense popularity both in Pakistan and abroad, India is not letting go of any opportunity to increase its propaganda against Pakistan.”
Abduction of the daughter of the Afghan Ambassador
Silsila Alikhil, the daughter of the Afghan ambassador in Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil, was abducted on 16th July in Islamabad but was released after several hours. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, it said that Silsila Alikhil was tortured while in captivity. She was abducted by several unknown individuals from Jinnah Super in Islamabad on Friday. After being tortured at some unknown location, she was released near Tehzeeb Bakery in the Blue Area of Islamabad.
According to the medical examination report, Silsila Alikhil had pain and swelling at wrist joints and hands. There were rope marks on the wrist joints as well. She also had similar pain and rope marks on her legs and ankle joints. The woman also had swelling around her eyes, and she was found vomiting and bleeding from the ENT region.
On Saturday (July 17) night, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav shared a misleading image to suggest that a police officer was misbehaving and assaulting a woman in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh. Even though the claims of Yadav were proved to be false, the media continues to spread the lies.
He wrote, “Some police officials, who are working on the behest of the BJP, are tarnishing the image of the Uttar Pradesh police. Under the rule of the BJP, there is no dearth of lawlessness. Highly condemnable.” The image shared by Akhilesh Yadav gave the impression that a cop was sitting atop a woman and assaulting her.
Screengrab of the tweet by Akhilesh Yadav
Although the Kanpur Dehat police issued a written and video statement debunking the misleading nature of his tweet, mainstream media portals continued to amplify the lies of Akhilesh Yadav. Prominent leftist news portal NDTV published an article titled, “UP: Video of a Police Inspector sitting on a woman goes viral, Akhilesh Yadav hits back” on the issue. Throughout the article, NDTV subtly cast aspersions on the integrity of the police. It was only towards the end that the police clarification was added while the headline conveyed the falsehoods.
Screengrab of the NDTV article
A similar attempt was made by the Indian Express to give credence to the misleading claims of the Samajwadi party leader. It primarily focused on the statement of the woman, who was seen pulling the cop by the collar, and less on putting forth the obvious facts of the case.
Screengrab of the Indian Express article
Hindustan Times also pulled off a similar propaganda agenda.
Screengrab of the HT report
The Truth behind the incident
According to the Kanpur Dehat police, the Station-in-charge (Bhognipur police station) Mahendra Patel had gone to the Durgadaspur village to capture one Shivam Yadav. He had reportedly threatened a candidate in Panchayat elections. At that time, the wife and mother of the accused intervened to protect Yadav from arrest. Arti Yadav, the wife of the accused, pulled Mahendra Patel by the collar to the ground.
A Twitter user (@isinghDeepanshu) had tweeted an 8-second video of the incident, which shows the woman pulling the police officer by his neck and not the other way around.
A similar video was also shared by the Official Twitter handle of Kanpur Dehat police. In another video, the woman was seen trying to strip off her blouse in a bid to implicate the police official. A man was also seen provoking the cop, while he stood his ground in a non-aggressive manner. From the videos, it appeared that the police officer was the victim and not the aggressor as claimed by the Samajwadi party leader.
From “controlled explosion” to “targeted testing,” the excuses for the Kerala government are many. And yet, despite all the literacy and HDI in the world, Covid cases are surging in Kerala. It is currently the only state in the country where active cases are still increasing. With a population of just 3 crore people, Kerala leads in daily new Covid cases, contributing as much as 33% of the daily national total. Evidently, the virus does not respect liberal privilege.
On top of this, the Kerala government has now decided to relax Covid norms for three days during Bakr-Eid. How could this be? Just two or three days ago, mainstream media was holding passionate debates calling for a stop to Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. How can you let religious tradition prevail over common sense? Does human life not matter to you?
The outrage paid off. The Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of the matter. The state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were shamed and panicked into doing the “sensible” thing. No Kanwar Yatra this year.
Okay, but what about Kerala? How can the state government lift lockdown for Bakr-Eid, that too when the state is number one in daily covid cases? How can they be so brazen about this? Frustrated social media users simply cannot make sense of the blatant double standard.
Kerala easing restrictions on Eid
There are two explanations being offered, but in my view, both are wrong. The first of these accuses one particular community of being far too consumed by religious fundamentalism. The second explanation points the finger at moral bankruptcy of India’s secular establishment. The governments and the Lords will take all possible liberties with Hindu traditions, but they dare not touch Muslim festivals. Sometimes it is vote bank politics, sometimes hypocrisy and just plain fear.
But that is too superficial. Consider this instead.
Pakistan imposes lockdown for Eid
That is from May this year, shortly before Eid-ul-Fitr. And again, before Bakr-Eid, Pakistan has imposed heavy restrictions on people traveling during the holidays.
Lockdown ahead of Eid
Clearly, Pakistan is taking no chances. They are being eminently sensible. They understand the risks. And they are doing what is needed to protect lives. And common people in Pakistan seem to be going along with it just fine.
You see that? No use pointing fingers at a particular community. In fact, Saudi Arabia has banned all foreign pilgrims from Hajj this year. Only citizens and residents will be allowed to make the journey, that too only if they are fully vaccinated, with a cap set at 60,000.
The Saudis don’t want to take any risks. Nor does Pakistan. Then, why is Kerala stepping out of line?
Because, in my view, Kerala is doing something different. The government there is sending a message, to people in Kerala and around the world. This is not about letting people enjoy a religious festival. The government of Pinarayi Vijayan and his son in law is sending a message to “non-believers” in Kerala that they are second class citizens.
If Uttar Pradesh can cancel Kanwar Yatra, why can’t there be a lockdown in Kerala during Bakr-Eid? The Kerala government is not worried about people asking this question. They want people to ask this question and internalize the answer. Because one is a pagan festival while the other is not. The Kerala government wants the idol worshipers to realize this, accept their second class status and bow down to those of the true faith.
They are not ashamed of the double standard. They are proud of it. And they revel in it. Accusing them of double standards is like saying the rulers who imposed Jaziya tax had a double standard. The purpose of the tax was to humiliate the non-believer, not money.
Does Pakistan or Saudi Arabia need to rub it in the faces of “non-believers?” No, because the non-believers in those countries have fully accepted their second class status. There is no point in making a show of it again, especially in times of the pandemic.
But in Kerala, the question is still open. It seems the government of Pinarayi Vijayan and his son in law want to make it clear to the non-believers in the state that they are second class citizens. They are taking a huge risk by lifting Covid restrictions and they know that. But for the ruling Communists, it’s a risk worth taking.
George Soros is a Hungarian-American businessman and a self-proclaimed philanthropist who had vowed to ‘fight nationalists’ and conservative governments worldwide, which he often refers to as ‘authoritarian governments’. During the course of his life, if there is one thing George Soros has hated the most, it is India and its nationalist government led by Prime Minister Modi.
Through his Open Society Foundation, which started its operations in India first in 1999 by offering scholarships and fellowships to pursue studies and research at Indian institutions, Soros has made great strides in creating disorder within India. In the name of running philanthropic activities, the left-wing international organisation led by Soros has begun to spread its tentacles across the country by his active support to anti-India elements operating inside India.
In the last few decades, George Soros has time and again has shown his desperation to wage war against the nationalist government in India through various networks funded by him comprising of NGOs, media, intelligentsia, etc.
Regarding his philanthropy work, Soros’s OSF grasped a stronghold in India during the Obama regime. Ever since its entry into India, OSF has tried to interlope in the internal affairs of the nation through the vast and interconnected network of organisations funded by George Soros. These organisations play a vital role in manipulating the original narrative and take the help of the judiciary and media to hinder the national interest.
In 2008, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) had joined hands with Omidyar Network, Indian School of Business (ISB) and Google.org to launch their 17 million SONG fund to boost invetment. Together with other networks, Soros has provided extensive grants to media running into millions to manipulate political narratives.
Here are some of the intellectuals, journalists and NGOs operating in India that have been beneficiaries of George Soros’s “philanthropic funds”:
George Soros and his network of Intellectuals, Journalists and NGOs:
Through his network of NGOs, George Soros has cultivated a class of intellectuals who work resolutely towards opposing the Indian state, especially the nationalist government led by PM Narendra Modi. It all started in 1995 when George Soros contributed the initial seed fund to set up the Media Development Investment Fund.
The objective of the Soros-funded not-for-profit investment fund was to invest in ‘independent media’ in challenging countries with a history of media oppression. Currently, the Indian beneficiaries listed on the MDIF site are the far-left website Scroll and another website named Graam Vaani.
Besides, the Open Society Foundation also funds the International Committee of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), an international organisation with journalist affiliates worldwide, including India.
Some of the Indian journalists that are members of ICIJ are Ritu Sarin, Shyamlal Yadav and P Vaidyanathan Iyer of the Indian Express, Rakesh Kalshian – a former IANS editor who now works for German Channel Deutsche Welle (DW), Murali Krishnan and Yusuf Jameel of the Asian Age. ICIJ also has Syed Nazakat in its ranks, the founder and editor-in-chief of DataLEADS.
Besides funding media, the Open Society Foundation has also been a benefactor to left-leaning intellectuals who have constantly put out fake narratives against the current government. There are also some prominent names with extensive links to George Soros, but it is extremely unlikely that these connections will surprise anyone. Some of the most prominent among them are Harsh Mander, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Indira Jaising and Amartya Sen.
For instance, Amartya Sen, along with George Soros, is part of the advisory council of NGO Namati (funded by OSF) that works for ‘environmental justice’ in India. Amartya Sen is not just a regular speaker at the OSF, but George Soros has made a documentary with Sen.
Together with George Soros himself, Sen sits on the Advisory Council of the NGO Namati mentioned earlier in the report. Amartya Sen, of course, has an ideological hatred against the current dispensation and has a long history of making a series of bizarre arguments in his efforts to oppose the Narendra Modi government.
Amartya Sen’s links with George Soros.
Another controversial individual who has done more harm to India than any other person in recent times is none other than Harsh Mander. Harsh Mander, known for his close ties with the first family of the Congress party, has been associated with Open Society Foundations.
Mander served as an Advisory Board member of the international grantmaking network founded by George Soros, Open Society Foundations. His role in instigating the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots, particularly the violence around the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in December 2019, has been under scrutiny for some time now. Ironically, he had later filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court seeking the arrest of BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra for instigating violence. Other people have also noted this connection of Mander with Soros.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta is another individual who sits on the Board of Directors of Namati.
Soros also has links with Yogendra Yadav. Yadav, who, as a professor at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies in 2006, had presented a State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA) study in front of Soros, who was visiting India for the first time, as well as Amartya Sen.
Besides, some other Indians have also been appointed as Open Society Fellows by George Soros in the past.
Author and journalist Basharat Peer, known for peddling pro-Pakistan narrative in Kashmir, has served as an Open Society Fellow from 2009 and 2010, which is considered a very influential post in the intellectual circles.
Journalist Chitrangada Choudhury, who has previously worked with The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times, has also been a Research Fellow at the CSDS. Since 2014, Choudhury is an Open Society Fellow.
Similarly, Shekhar Singh, who claims to be an RTI activist and former faculty at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, as well as the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, also is a beneficiary of George Soros. Moreover, Singh is also a part of the Soros network due to his association as an Open Society Fellow.
Interestingly, there is also a link between George Soros and Shekhar Gupta of The Print. Shekhar Gupta enjoys a special relationship with Soros as he is the only Indian journalist to whom George Soros gave the only electronic media interview when he used to host Walk the Talk for NDTV.
Besides, Soros’s only article written for the Indian press to date is published by Shekhar Gupta’s venture, The Print.
In addition, Soros’ Foundation and Omidyar Network have also funded $1.3 million to Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), with a long track record of attempts to thrust a biased fact-checking regime on India IFCN network.
NGOs sponsored by Soros:
Besides intellectuals and media networks, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations has also funded a large number of organisations in India.
In 2016, Open Society Foundations suffered a huge setback after the Indian Government was put them on a watch list, which essentially meant that it could not fund any of these organisations directly. As a result, since 2016, OSF needs prior sanction from the Home Ministry for sending money across to FCRA registered organizations in India.
Some of the NGOs that receive grants from Open Society Foundations:
Lawyers Collective – The controversial NGO headed by Indira Jaising and Anand Grover is known for its anti-government propaganda. Currently, Indira Jaising and her husband Anand Grover are on the dock as well for donations from George Soros’s network of NGOs their NGO Lawyers’ Collective.
The NDA government cancelled the FCRA licence of the NGO for using foreign contributions to achieve political objectives. The CBI had also registered an FIR in the matter in 2018 after the investigative agency raided them. The Supreme Court had issued notices to the duo as well for the FCRA violations.
Centre for Policy Research (CPR) – The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is a think tank focusing on public policy in India. It receives funding from Amartya Sen’s Namati, which in turn has received funds from Open Society. Some of the people associated with the controversial think tank are usual anti-BJP critics, such as Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Current President Yamini Aiyar is also known for her controversial views on the Indian government.
Multiple Action Research Group (MARG) – MARG is another organisation funded by Namati, which is funded by OSF. The NGO claims to works in the areas of legal rights and “helps people understand their legal rights”. The obscure organisation has also pushed for the implementation of RTE, an act that is viewed as discriminatory to schools run by the majority community.
Evangelical Trust Association of North India (ETANI) – This evangelical organisation handles property-related legal and governmental matters for the churches in North India. ETANI, which is an arm of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, documents news on the persecution of Christians across India.
In addition, there are NGOs such as the Centre for Civil Society (CCS), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Socio-Legal Information Centre – receive some form of funding from the Open Society Foundation.
Soros influence on the Global Media
George Soros has a tremendous influence on American media. The Media Research Center (MRC), an American media watchdog founded in 1987 to check the liberal bias in the media, discovered that over 30 major news organizations had links to George Soros. These organizations include the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC. He has also financially supported the National Public Radio (NPR). In addition to all of this, George Soros has links to the Huffington Post too.
It is also reported that since 2003, George Soros has spent “more than $48 million funding media properties, including the infrastructure of news – journalism schools, investigative journalism and even industry organization”. Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism has also received extensive funds from the OSF. This is from 2011, the numbers will be exponentially higher now. George Soros has also funded numerous other journalism associations like The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, The National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Given all of this, the Western Media’s coverage of India shouldn’t really be surprising. The American media has traditionally held a bigoted view against India, and when it combines with the influence and financial power of one of the richest men in the world, the result is obvious. From advocacy for Radical Islam in Kashmir to fearmongering about the NRC and CAA, the Western Media’s coverage of India has been remarkably consistent.
George Soros actions against India
In his much-publicized WEF speech delivered at WEF, Soros made his views known to the world when he singled out rising nationalism as the greatest enemy of the open society. He had deliberately singled out India and blamed PM Modi’s Government for trying to create a Hindu state.
Terming India as the “biggest and most frightening setback occurred”, Soros had made plans known to everyone in no uncertain terms. Soros has been instrumental in propagating the anti-Indian government narrative in the international press by using his influence and trying to create anarchy on the streets of India.
In the name of freedom of expression and the western style of liberalism, a coalition of forces represented by billionaire investors like Soros, Omadiyar and Berggruen are leveraging India’s democracy and its institutions to leverage its fault-lines for fueling the discontent against the popular Government. Soros and his ecosystem have been largely successful in creating misinformation warfare on a massive scale by putting out negative and false narratives against the democratically-elected government with the help of left-liberal media outlets.
The long term investments to cultivating left-liberal intelligentsia, media and NGOs seem to have worked well for Soros. The well-oiled propaganda machinery created by Soros against the nationalist Indian government is there to stay and will continue to guide his objectives- to stem the rise of nationalism and defeat nationalistic forces.
