Rajiv Bajaj, the MD of Bajaj Auto, who had fear-mongered about an economic slump post the coronavirus-induced lockdown, took off on his usual anti-India and anti-government rant in a recent interview with NDTV ‘journalist’ Sreenivas Jain.
The business magnet was invited by NDTV as a guest speaker to speak on a host of topics ranging from the made in India Covid-19 vaccine to recently announced the Union Budget 2021 to his company Bajaj Auto announcing record profit and revenue for Q3FY21. And during the course of the interview, Rajiv Bajaj, a confidant of Congress’ senior leader Rahul Gandhi, came across to be quite displeased with the central government.
The Indian entrepreneur who has repeatedly come across as an eternal member of the anti-India and anti-Modi brigade claimed that “a relatively large number of people in India are illiterate, ignorant and indisciplined”.
When asked whether he would want to reconsider his critical opinions on the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the Indian economy, the Bajaj Auto MD reiterated his lies and distortions to allege that the government had been incompetent in handling the coronavirus crisis and the resulting economic downturn faced by the country. He claimed Indian economy is in bad condition despite announcing record profit for his company.
#NDTVExclusive | “There was no need for the government to completely lock up such a young and relatively healthy country. They should’ve adopted a more calibrated and customised approach,” says Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto to NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain on #ExecutiveDecisionpic.twitter.com/oUdtAnNEct
Restating his previous views on the COVID-19 lockdown, Bajaj said: “There was no need for the government to completely lock up such a young and relatively healthy country. They should’ve adopted a more calibrated and customised approach.”
For those uninitiated, Rajiv Bajaj had earlier, in an interview, he partook with him bosom pal Rahul Gandhi, called the lockdown imposed in India to control the pandemic as a “draconian” measure which ended up damaging the economy. According to Bajaj, the coronavirus lockdown had flattened the wrong curve, that is GDP, and hadn’t really been successful in containing the virus.
Amusingly, a week after Bajaj had called the lockdown placed by the government due to deadly coronavirus pandemic as “draconian lockdown” claiming that it would damage the economy, his company had recorded highest-ever monthly sale.
During the course of the interview, Rajiv Bajaj, much to the likes of his ally, belittled the Indian-developed COVID-19 vaccines saying that for him the risks related to the Indian vaccine outweigh its benefits. “Between being for or against the vaccine, I believe t here is a middle path where you ask yourself, do the risks outweigh the benefits? For someone like me, I believe they do”, says Rajiv Bajaj, insinuating that the Indian vaccines are not safe as it has been hurriedly ‘pushed’ in a years time.
#NDTVExclusive | “Adar Poonawalla is a friend and I admire him for what he is doing.. but between being for or against the vaccine, a middle path – do the risks outweigh the benefits? For someone like me, I believe they do,” says Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto#ExecutiveDecisionpic.twitter.com/Kq4EYf8cq4
Bajaj claims that instead of opting for the vaccine he rather be infected with the pathogen, as it only causes a rise in body temperature and few other mild symptoms like body ache. To this, the NDTV journo Sreenivas Jain is heard saying that Bajaj is talking about taking a big risk. “Though the Indian vaccine is 99% safe, there is always a risk of 1-2%, where cases turn critical or even fatal”, said Jain, to which Bajaj replies, “well, that this is the risk I take every time I step on to the Indian roads, which has the dubious distinction in road fatalities worldwide”, taking a sly dig at the road condition of India.
Questioned on the 2021 Union Budget, the Indian entrepreneur says that in his 30 years of his career, he has never heard the budget. One wonders here, then what made NDTV consider Bajaj suitable to give ‘expert’ comments on the Budget and India’s economy.
Speaking on the record sales his company made in the third quarter of FY21, the businessman owed it to the overseas sales and said it had nothing to do with the “good or poor state of the economy of India”.
With Rajiv Bajaj’s political inclinations apparent, these pessimistic and demoralized opinions about the Modi government is not surprising, but what is beyond belief is that in his extreme hate for Modi, Bajaj does not even hesitate to lie and spread falsehood, falsifying the image of India amongst other nations.
The anti-farm law agitation in India has intensified after international singer-writer Rihanna, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and ex-pornstar Mia Khalifa showed solidarity with the protestors. Amidst the hullabaloo, a video of a Khalistan supporter M Dhaliwal has now surfaced on social media.
The video, shared by ANI journalist Naveen Kapoor, was shot on January 26 at the entrance of the visa Consulate office in Vancouver in Canada. “If the farm bills get repealed tomorrow, that is not a victory. This battle begins with the repeal of the farm laws. It does not end there. Anybody who tells you that this is going to end with the repeal of the farm bills is trying to drain energy from the movement. They are trying to tell you that you are separate from Punjab and the Khalistan movement,” he said.
Dhaliwal emphasised, “The reason Khalistani people are so passionate about this (anti-farm law agitation) is that we are seeing the truth that they predicted in the 1970s. They (Khalistanis) wanted an independent land so that we did not have to live through this movement. I request to all of the young people here – Don’t close your eyes, hearts and minds to each other.”
M Dhaliwal standing in the entrance of visa Consulate office in Vancouver on 26 JANUARY his uncle a Khalistani was killed by Punjab police after 1984 Riots pic.twitter.com/6RNXNrZC8N
He further requested the youth to not dismiss the idea of ‘Khalistan’ and instead learn about the movement and embrace it. “Nobody wants to be called a terrorist. I lost my uncle in the 90s…Nobody wants to leave home, nobody wants to remain anonymous, nobody wants to die young. Why would they do that? Ask the question. Why would somebody leave home to become a part of the independence movement? There was so much pain and oppression that they could not live in their homeland anymore?” Dhaliwal reiterated.
While addressing the gathering, the Khalistani supporter that their ultimate objective is the same, irrespective of whether they are holding a ‘Khalistani flag’ or a ‘farm bill flag’ or a ‘Kesari flag’. “We are being fed language that is separating us from each other,” he alleged.
Greta Thunberg Files, Toolkit and the connection with M Dhaliwal
On February 3, environmental activist Greta Thunberg accidentally exposed how anti-India forces are trying to create unrest in India. Her multi-layered document named ‘Toolkit’ exposed several organizations, celebrities, and leaders for conspiring against India. One such name that popped up is the Poetic Justice Foundation.
Co-founded by Mo Dhaliwal, a Canadian resident and Khalistan supporter, and Anita Lal, another resident of Canada and Khalistan supporter, Poetic Justice Foundation started a campaign under the ‘Global Day of Action’ format. According to the document accessed of the Poetic Justice Foundation campaign, it had a dedicated plan that went back as far as January 3, 2021. The organisation had prepared a step by step guide for the global campaign to malign India. One of the slides in the presentation was one that detailed their ultimate ‘objectives’.
As several foreign influencers, including singer-actress Rihanna, former porn-star Mia Khalifa and teen protestor Greta Thunberg interfered in country’s politics by endorsing violence in the name of supporting ‘farmer’ protests, several Indian celebrities took to social media to call for unity in the nation against foreign interference in India’s affairs.
Similarly, on Wednesday, India’s sporting legend Sachin Tendulkar led the sports fraternity to condemn the global false propaganda against India. Sachin Tendulkar tweeted saying, “India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let’s remain united as a nation.”
As Sachin Tendulkar raised his voice against external forces attempting to create chaos on the country’s streets, strangely a section of social media users from Kerala descended on social media to not only mock the former cricket but also abuse him for standing up for the cause of the country.
Several social media users from Kerala ‘regreted’ over their sharp criticism and ridicule in the past directed towards Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, who had once claimed of not being aware of Sachin Tendulkar. During a press meet 7 years ago, Sharapova was asked about her opinion on Tendulkar’s presence at one of her matches, to which she had responded saying she did not know him.
Following the incident, several social media users had ridiculed, abused the tennis player for not knowing one of the greatest batsmen of the era. Ironically, it was a section of social media users from Kerala who had led the massive outrage against Sharapova back then in 2014.
Keralites mocks Sachin Tendulkar, media showcase it as a social media campaign
However, seven years later, Keralites have come forward to apologise to Sharapova for abusing her in 2014. Angered over Tendulkar’s support for the country, Keralites said ‘Sorry’ to Sharapova and expressed regret for standing in support of the cricketing legend during the controversy.
Shockingly, several media outlets, rather than condemning their actions, have published reports to indirectly praise them for confronting Sachin Tendulkar. The left-liberal media took this opportunity to glorify the act by several Malayalee social media users.
Here are the media reports that attempted to pass off the incident as just a social media incident rather than dangerous act of foul mouthing Indian icons, simply because they stood for the cause of the country amidst attempts by foreign vested interests to destabilise the country.
There are several other news reports that have also taken a similar line to amplify the shocking hatred spewed by the Kerala social media users against Sachin Tendulkar.
Are Communist cadres, Congress supporters and Islamic trolls behind apology campaign to Sharapova?
Amidst all the events that are currently occurring in India, tennis star Maria Sharapova took to Facebook to put out a new post. The Keralites, who seems to spend a lot of free time on the social media platform to spew venom against nationalist forces in the country, did not miss out on the opportunity.
Several social media users flooded her timeline with a series of apology claiming that they intended to regret their behaviour of abusing her back in 2013 and standing in support of Sachin Tendulkar.
As we looked into the thousands of comments posted on Sharapova’s timeline, it was clearly visible that a co-ordinated campaign was initiated to target Indian sporting icons, especially Sachin Tendulkar after he extended his support. The social media users chose Sharapova’s timeline to show their hatred towards Sachin Tendulkar.
Most of the comments on the timeline are put out by Communist workers, Congress party cadres, and many Islamic trolls from Kerala.
Here are some of the social media accounts that sought mercy from Maria Sharapova:
Communist supporters
The party cadres and supporters of the Left Democratic Front – a coalition of left parties in Kerala, were the first to mock Sachin Tendulkar. As we analysed their social media posts, it was revealed that most of them are active Communist party supporters.
Here are a few social media accounts of the LDF supporters:
Another Muslim social media user and an active worker of the LDF saying ‘Sorry’ to Maria Sharapova.
Ubaid Paroli seems to be a prominent one among them.
Ashik Ibn Haneefa referred to Sachin Tendulkar as a ‘Joker’ as he asked for forgiveness.
Not just Communists supporters, even Congress cadres were not far behind.
Congress supporters
The United Democratic Front or the UDF – a Congress-led coalition in the state, who are currently in the opposition in Kerala, seems to be competing with the Communists to impress the state’s hate-filled voters.
In fact, they were not far behind the act of apologising that has now turned into a national shame.
Here are some of the posts where Congress supporters were begging for mercy against a foreign individual, just as their party leaders do it often to stay relevant in the party.
Another Congress supporter said that Sharapova was right to say she did not know Sachin Tendulkar and added that destiny has proved right today.
Latheef Nani, another Congress supporter, claimed that Sachin Tendulkar rejected all the farmers. In reality, there was not even a single tweet put out by Sachin against farmers or for that matter farm laws. However, the Congress party workers, the champions of liberal values, have targeted Sachin Tendulkar for just expressing his opinion.
Here is another Shashi Tharoor supporter targeting Sachin Tendulkar for his posts and apologising to Sharapova. It is not tough to comprehend that is a follower of Shashi Tharoor.
Another Congress supporter seeking mercy from Maria Sharapova.
Several assorted trolls, AAP supporters also descended on Sharapova’s timeline to mock India’s greatest sport legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Aam Aadmi Party, which has no presence in Kerala, seems to have influenced one member. Interestingly, for AAP’s benefit, even he has turned out to be hateful as many of its party workers.
A large section of hatred for Sachin Tendulkar came from Islamic social media accounts, who did not hesitate at all to make denigrating comments against Sachin Tendulkar as they sought an apology from Maria Sharapova for insulting her in 2014.
From the above tweets, one can confer that a large section of Kerala social media users was not impressed with Indian sports heroes standing up for what is right – to stand in the country’s cause and protect its interests. It is rather shocking to realise that several Indians are ready to let go of their self-respect if it suited their narrow political narrative.
On February 3, environmental activist Greta Thunberg accidentally exposed how anti-India forces are trying to create unrest in India. Her multi-layered document named ‘Toolkit’ exposed several organizations, celebrities, and leaders for conspiring against India. One such name that popped up is the Poetic Justice Foundation.
Co-founded by Mo Dhaliwal, a Canadian resident and Khalistan supporter, and Anita Lal, another resident of Canada and Khalistan supporter, Poetic Justice Foundation started a campaign under the ‘Global Day of Action’ format.
According to the document accessed of the Poetic Justice Foundation campaign, it had a dedicated plan that went back as far as January 3, 2021. The organisation had prepared a step by step guide for the global campaign to malign India. One of the slides in the presentation was one that detailed their ultimate ‘objectives’.
While the rest of the objectives are rather expected, one listed objective is rather intriguing.
The fourth objective in the list states, “Disrupt “yoga & chai” image of India in general”.
It is well known that PM Modi had once worked as a tea seller. Also, he had put Yoga on a larger international platform that resulted in the inception of International Yoga Day in 2014. These two aspects of the campaign’s objectives have nothing to do with the farmers, but it is about causing damage to India’s image on an international platform.
However, one wonders if there could be more to this than meets the eye.
It is widely known that detractors of Prime Minister Modi call him ‘chai’ in order to insult his humble beginnings. Furthermore, speaking of “Yoga & Chai” image of India appears a bit suspicious as it is not normally said that India has a “Chai’ image.
Chai (tea) is a prominent aspect of Indian day-to-day life but hardly anyone ever hears anyone associating ‘Chai’ with India’s image abroad. Therefore, it could very well be that it is a codeword for Narendra Modi.
Thus, while the “chai” part of the objective could mean PM Modi, one wonders if the “yoga” part of the objective means Yogi Adityanath.
It is no surprise that Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath are a thorn on the liberal side the world over. Furthermore, Yogi Adityanath is perceived by many as a politician who could become India’s Prime Minister someday. After Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, he is easily the BJP’s most popular politician at the moment. Therefore, it will not be surprising if a dedicated campaign is launched to undermine his popularity.
One remembers the demeaning and racist headlines in the western media against PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath.
There was this motivated cover of TIME magazine, featuring an article that was written by Aatish Taseer, an anti-Hindu ’eminent media person’ who regularly spews venom against India in western media.
As for Yogi Adityanath, The New York Times went as far as to call Yogi Adityanath the head of a militant temple and insulted the Gorakhnath Temple, one of the most important Temples of the Nath Tradition in Hinduism.
Of course, the same New York Times went on to hail the Christian values that Biden is bringing to the US government, however, it is no secret how racist western media operates. For them, any entity that upholds the culture of Bharat and does not denigrate Hinduism to uphold western values, becomes a bigot and a militant, whereas, actual terrorists often become humanitarian activists.
This deep seated racism does not come as a surprise to anyone, neither does the fact that the global establishment appears to have been activated to bring PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath down.
In that context, it would not be too far fetched to wonder if the one of the objectives of the manufactured protest is to ensure that the image of PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath are tarnished. Since Amit Shah is considered the ‘right hand man’ of Prime Minister Modi, any effect on the Prime Minister will rub off on him as well.
This would also not be the first time that such political plans have been cloaked behind activism, not just by global protestors and foreign funded NGOs but even our own politicians.
Right before the 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi, the then President of the Congress party gave a rare interview to India Today. In the interview, Rahul Gandhi spoke about a host of subjects including the Congress’ strategy to ‘defeat Modi’ in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, there was one extremely revealing segment, where the malice of Rahul Gandhi and the servility of the interviewer was starkly visible.
In one segment, Rahul Gandhi interestingly reveals his true plans and talks about how one of his primary goals during campaigning was destroying the image of Narendra Modi.
In this segment, Rahul Gandhi says that when he started off, he asked his partymen what Narendra Modi’s strength was and they said, his strength is his incorruptible image.
Rahul Gandhi says that his response was “Okay, I’m going to rip that strength to pieces. I’m going to take it and shred it”. He then asserts that he has managed to do just that because he was ‘persistent’.
With the current revelation, it becomes important to then connect the dots. We recently reported how Congress had tweeted content verbatim from the ‘toolkit’ that was inadvertently tweeted by Greta Thunberg, thereby exposing the global plan to tarnish India.
In fact, the organisation that has set out this goal is co-founded by Mo Dhaliwal, a Canadian resident and Khalistan supporter, and Anita Lal, another resident of Canada and Khalistan supporter, Poetic Justice Foundation started a campaign under the ‘Global Day of Action’ format.
In a video that has recently surfaced, Dhaliwal makes it clear that these ‘farmer protest’ is just the beginning.
“Repeal of the farm bills is not the end but the beginning of our struggle”.
There you have it. In the words of the very person who created the Tool Kit. The person who paid $2.5 million, per media reports, to Rihanna to tweet.
In the video, he clearly says that the “repeal of the farm bills is not the end but the beginning of our struggle”. Now, if these protests really were just about the farm laws, however misplaced, one would not expect to hear that the “struggle” would continue even if their demand was met.
We have exposed time and again how these protests have a distinct Khalistani design to them from the beginning and the intricate role of the banned Khalistani terror outfit Sikhs for Justice. Now, with Mo Dhaliwal, who is also a self proclaimed Khalistani admitting that these protests are not really about farm laws, it appears that one of the main objectives of this “struggle” is to take down PM Modi, Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath and “chai and yoga” are merely code words for the same.
The Jammu and Kashmir police arrested one Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist from the Indira Gandhi Internation Airport in Delhi Friday. An overground worker of JeM, Munib Sofi is a resident of Bijbehara in Jammu and Kashmir. He was arrested following his deportation from Qatar, informed Kulgam police.
According to reports, Sofi was working for the dreaded slain Pakistani terrorist Waleed Bhai.
Waleed Bhai was the JeM IED (Improvised Explosive Device) expert from Pakistan, who operated in the Valley. He was on the list of the most wanted terrorist of the Jammu and Kashmir police. Waleed Bhai was killed in an encounter, along with two other JeM terrorists operating in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in a gunbattle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district in July 2020. The IGP had then said that Waleed Bhai had escaped during four cordon-and-search operations in south Kashmir earlier.
Police have said in a statement that the role of the arrested OGW had surfaced in an FIR number 58/2020 under sections 13, 18, 19, 38, 39 ULA(P) Act. The accused arrested in the said case had revealed to the police that he along with other OGWs were collecting money for JeM from various districts in Kashmir and were handing over the collected amount to Munib Sofi who lived in Qatar.
Munib Sofi used the collected money to buy arms and ammunitions from Waleed Bhai in Pakistan. Earlier, Kulgam police and issued a lookout notice against Munib and a non-bailable warrant u/s 25 Police Act was also obtained.
Earlier on Monday, the security forces had arrested two overground workers of JeM from Pulwama district. “Police along with Army and CRPF arrested two terrorist associates of proscribed outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad from Awantipora area who are involved in providing shelter, support and logistics,” a police official had said.
While the nation is anticipating the construction of a majestic Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, donations have begun pouring in from devotees from across the social spectrum. In such a development, the beggar community of the Leprosy Colony in the Ramgarh district of Jharkhand has contributed ₹2,425 to the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, reportedNavbharat Times.
While speaking about their generous contribution, one Saraswati Devi informed that the community survives on alms and picks trash for a living. But on learning about the fundraising drive for the construction of Ram Mandir, they could not help but contribute to the cause. Similarly, another member of the Leprosy Colony named Jeetu Mohto, who is a beggar by occupation, also contributed ₹1000 for Ram Mandir.
Inspired by the actions of the beggars of the Leprosy community, one Muslim man also contributed to the construction of Ram Mandir. Identified as one Gulab Khan, the man was passing by the area and was awestruck by the philanthropy of the beggar community. He then proceeded to donate to the Ram Mandir Samiti. The Trust informed that it has received a hefty contribution from people from various walks of life. “Everyone wants to see the dream of the grand Ram temple come true,” it remarked.
80-year-old woman’s priceless contribution for Ram Mandir
Earlier, a video had surfaced on social media, where a poor old woman was seen insisting on donating for the Ram Mandir. In the video, the volunteers were seen insisting that she should donate only 10 rupees and not 20 rupees. In the video, the old woman, who was visibly poor, insisted that she would donate 20 rupees. The volunteers tried to persuade her that she should keep the other ten rupees note and donate just ten rupees, as she might need it for herself.
But the lady was adamant. She said that it was her money and it was her wish to donate 20 rupees. The volunteers then told her that they had a coupon for 10 rupees only, probably in the hope that she would agree and keep the other 10 rupees note with her. But the lady insisted to take two coupons. She then told that her elder son was no more and the volunteers should write one coupon in her name and another in the name of her deceased son.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) uploaded the Congress party’s contribution report earlier this week. Foreseeably, the Congress party, which along with existential crisis is also going through major financial crisis post-2019 Lok Sabha elections, has managed to gather Rs 139.01 crore in contributions in 2019-2020. This is a significant dip from last years collection of Rs 146 crore.
All political parties are required to submit a contribution report to the Election Commission every year listing out donations received from individuals as well as companies and trust in excess of Rs 20,000.
According to the data provided on the ECI site, Congress which filed its contribution report on December 30, 2020, declared a collection of Rs 139.01 crore in 2019-20.
Congress’s contribution report for 2019-20 uploaded on the official ECI site
This amount is much lesser than what it collected in 2018-19.
Congress’s contribution report for 2018-19 uploaded on the official ECI site
However, what is extraordinary about the ECI report on Congress’ contribution for 2019-20, is that the members of the Gandhi family, which has been running the show since the inception of the party, have appeared to be the most close-fisted. The party president Sonia Gandhi has contributed Rs 50,000 to the party fund, while her son and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi donated Rs 54,000.
Interestingly the 23 senior leaders of the party invariably called the G-23 or the group of 23 dissenting leaders who have been vocal about the leadership concerns within the party, have either matched the contributions made by the party supremos or have exceeded their contributions.
Kapil Sibal, who has been the most vocal among the G-23 leader, donated Rs 3 crore to the party fund. Kapil Sibal, in fact, was the biggest individual contributor among the party leaders.
Besides Kapil Sibal, the list submitted by the Congress to the Election Commission has five other G-23 members as contributors to the party fund. They are Raj Babbar, Milind Deora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor. Raj Babbar donated Rs 1.08 lakh followed by Deora who contributed Rs 1 lakh. The other three made a contribution of Rs 54,000 each, same as Rahul Gandhi.
Moreover, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Defence Minister AK Antony, late Motilal Vora, late Ahmed Patel, former Union minister Preneet Kaur, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also matched their donations with Rahul Gandhi, contributing the unique figure of Rs 54,000 each to the party funds. Some of them made multiple contributions each of Rs 54,000.
Meanwhile, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who defected from the Congress to join BJP, also made a contribution of Rs 54,000 to the party fund.
Amongst the corporates which contributed to the Congress party fund were Bharti Airtel-backed Prudent Electoral Trust making the biggest contribution of Rs 31 crore followed by the ITC at Rs 13 crore and ITC Infotech Rs 4 crore.
On February 3, environmental activist Greta Thunberg accidentally exposed how anti-India forces are trying to create unrest in India. Her multi-layered document named ‘Toolkit’ exposed several organizations, celebrities, and leaders for conspiring against India. One such name that popped up is the Poetic Justice Foundation.
Co-founded by Mo Dhaliwal, a Canadian resident and Khalistan supporter, and Anita Lal, another resident of Canada and Khalistan supporter, Poetic Justice Foundation started a campaign under the ‘Global Day of Action’ format.
According to the document accessed of the Poetic Justice Foundation campaign, it had a dedicated plan that went back as far as January 3, 2021. The group provided taglines, hashtags, tweet formats, posters, media kits, printable artwork and much more for the people who wanted to support them in the campaign. By January 20, they had sent the material and kits to everyone who had shown interest using their Google Form for the same.
Chronology of planning mentioned in the document
Here are some media files that they had shared in their media kit. These images/posters were used extensively on social media platforms. The plan that they had laid down was extensive, well researched and quite successful too.
This is one of the images available in media kit. This image is from November and it is available on Shutterstock. When we tried to access the shutterstock page of this image through reverse searching the image, it said, “This content is restricted.”
Propaganda image that was available in media kit and screenshot of Shutterstock’s site saying the image is not accessible in India.
These images/posters were shared on PJF’s and ‘Ask India Why’ campaign’s social media pages. These images/posters were available in vector format. The maximum size that one can print was 10ft x 20ft. Here are four examples of such posters.
Posters used for propaganda against India
We searched some of these images/posters and found many accounts that had shared them especially on Instagram and Facebook. Notably, private accounts that have shared these images will not appear in hashtag search. Thus, exact number of accounts involved in the propaganda cannot be determined. Here are screenshots of some of the accounts.
Image source: Instagram
Accounts that have no knowledge of India have shared these posters (Image source: Facebook)
Key target regions
The group identified several key target regions to spread their propaganda. Top among them were Canada, USA, UK, and Australia, where Sikhs and Punjabis prefer to study, work and settle down. Other target regions included Kenya, Denmark, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Key regions
In its document, the organization urged its supporters to use the medium of communication that they find is the best to reach out to the masses in their area.
They asked supporters to use area specific networks that have better reach
They also urged them to spread the material they provided among Sangat of Regional Organizations (Sangat is often used for a group of people attending religious or cultural gatherings). Using such groups, they aimed at spreading their propaganda among the masses using social media and mainstream or vernacular media.
They suggested to use religious and cultural groups (Sangat) to spread propaganda
They said, “In gaining media traction, our job is to make the journalists’ job easier. We will craft template press releases, and gather relevant data and content from vetted sources and place everything at a single, downloadable location. When engaging media organizations, our global Sangat of protest organizers will be armed with everything, they need to convincingly pitch the story to their local media outlets.”
Their preparation made it clear how well organized and well funded these groups are.
The aim was to make journalist’s job easier so they prefer to publish their press releases.
The evergreen messages
Interestingly, in the document, they emphasized the fact that the media should easily repeat the message. They had mentioned a sample of an evergreen message that always catches the eye of the reader. The message read:
We are here to highlight persistent issues with the Indian government:
oppression of its citizens in favour of corporate interests
curtailed press freedoms and harassment of independent journalists
persecution of critics of the government with charges of anti-nationalism
While talking about the ‘evergreen’ message, PJF said that the message should have meaning even if the government decides to repeal the law. That means they are not interested in the farmers’ wellbeing, but their main objective is to cause disruption in India using farmer protests as the shoulder to shoot their guns.
Subtle mention of support from Pakistan
In the document, PJF subtly mentions how important it is for them that Punjabis and Sikhs from Pakistan join them. They said, “There are 3 Punjabs: East, West and the one that lays over the entire world like fine lace…. the Diaspora.” Here East Punjab is Punjab State in India, West Punjab is Punjab province of Pakistan, and third Punjab refers to Sikhs and Punjabis living across the globe.
Subtle mention of Pakistan
Objectives of the campaign include disruption of ‘Yoga-Chai’ image
Among common demands like repeal farm laws (mentioned as bills that raise the question if they were planning all this before the bills were passed in September) and global disruption on January 26, one demand objective that is inclined towards leftist propaganda is to disrupt the ‘yoga’ and ‘chai’ image of India. Both images are currently closely connected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Anti-Yoga rant to be used against India
It is well known that PM Modi had once worked as a tea seller. Also, he had put Yoga on a larger international platform that resulted in the inception of International Yoga Day in 2014. These two aspects of the campaign’s objectives have nothing to do with the farmers, but it is about causing damage to India’s image on an international platform.
Strongly backed by misinformation
If you sit and try to explore what these people are planning and they are moving forward by using misinformation as a tool, it shows how cleverly and subtly they replace correct information with that which are fake. For example, there is a document available on Dailyhive.com where Dhaliwal explains why they are supporting protests.
Propaganda article written by Mo Dhaliwal to spread misinformation (Image source: DailyHive.com)
He said, “The new bill is couched in language that speaks of efficiency and empowerment, removing the “middleman” as if to imply that farmers will somehow be able to capture more profits for themselves by selling directly to buyers.”
In the past, farmer unions, including Bharatiya Kisan Union, have demanded to remove the middleman from the Agriculture sector as they often exploit farmers. At that time they asked the government to define ‘middlemen’, the protesting farmer groups had said that whom the government called ‘middlemen’ were mere service providers who just charged a commission for providing services like unloading trolleys for farmers.
However, this is in complete contradiction to the demands raised by the farmer groups last year. However, Dhaliwal had tried to show if they are the only reason farmers are able to sell crops, which is untrue.
‘Ask India Why’ – propaganda by PJF
Under the ‘Ask India Why’ arm of PJF, the organization urged the public to join in the Global Day of Action not only to put pressure on the Indian government to repeal the laws but to cause more disruption in the future. The plan is not limited to farmer protests, but, as the documents suggest, it extends to making attempts to divide Indians.
The support form reads, “Our goal here is to move from moderate awareness of the issues in India, towards international pressure. Through this, our hope is that not only are the 3 farmer laws repealed, but there is greater international media scrutiny on India as we move forward.” It clearly mentioned they have long-term plans against India.
Ask India Why the campaign is large-scale propaganda against India that will be explored further in our reports.
Mo Dhaliwal and Anita Lal
Mo Dhaliwal is Founder and Director of Strategy at Skyrocket. He co-founded the Poetic Justice Foundation. He is a Khalistan supporter and has openly supported Khalistan. In September, when Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a leading Canadian think tank based out of Ottawa, had released a study on Pakistan’s role in nourishing Khalistani extremism, Dhaliwal used his NGOs platform to support Khalistan.
During the discussion he said that he does not think Khalistan is a problem and backed demanded of a separate country for Sikhs.
Dhaliwal had openly supported Khalistan (Image source: Facebook)
Screenshot from FB Video on PJF’s FB Page (Image source: Facebook)
Dhaliwal’s father was gunned down by security forces as per a report by News18. Dhaliwal was also spotted outside Indian Embassy raising Khalistani slogans.
Biggest R-Day Violence Revelations.
Minute-by-minute details of the #RepublicDayViolence, only on CNN-News18. Every act was planned.
Dhaliwal is a close associate Jagmeet Singh, Leader of NDP Canada, who is friends with Rihanna. Notably, Rihanna’s post support farmer protests is allegedly being linked to her connection with Jagmeet Singh.
2. Mo Dhaliwal, Founder of Poetic Justice Foundation, is a close associate Jagmeet Singh, Leader of NDP Canada, who is followed by Rihanna, who a copy pasted a tweet as a pre-planned campaign against India. Connect the dots. #IndiaAgainstPropagandapic.twitter.com/JFswZzEnSO
— ??FISIUK ??(Friends of India Soc Intl UK) (@FISI_UK) February 4, 2021
Anita Lal, Community Relations Specialist at Windmill Microlending has co-founded PJF. She is the Executive Director of PJF. She is a Canadian resident a Khalistan supporter.
After 26 Jan violence, she replied to a post with Nihang Sikh attacking police personnel and justified the violence.
Anita Lal tried to justify Sikh attacking police personnel with swords
Anita and Dhaliwal’s Twitter accounts are still active and they are continuously sharing anti-India posts. The Indian security establishment believes that Rihanna was paid by $2.5 million by Skyrocket to tweet in support of the farmer protests.
It is also believed that Poetic Justice Foundation played a “vital role” in “starting a global campaign” and that the campaign had the backing of “political leaders and activists based out of Canada”.
Pfizer Inc, which has developed a COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech, has reportedly withdrawn the application for emergency use of its vaccine in India. The US company, which was the first company to apply for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in the country, took the decision after it participated in the Subject Expert Committee meeting of the Drug Regulatory Authority of India on February 3.
Pfizer will continue to engage with authority & resubmit its approval request with additional information as it becomes available in the near future: Pfizer, Spokesperson
Following the meeting, the company issued a statement in which it said that the regulators in India needed more information regarding the vaccine, owing to which it was withdrawing the application for emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine in India. “Based on the deliberations at the meeting and our understanding of additional information that the regulator may need, the company has decided to withdraw its application at this time”.
It added that it will in the future look to resubmit its application with the additional information that the regulator requires. “Pfizer will continue to engage with the authority and re-submit its approval request with additional information as it becomes available in the near future.”
The US-based company had sought authorisation for the emergency use of its vaccine in India late last year. However, the Drug Regulatory Authority of India gave its approval to two much economical vaccines- the vaccine developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca and another made in India vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech together with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had declined to accept Pfizer’s request for approval unless it participated in a small local trial to determine the vaccine’s safety and immunogenicity for Indians. Indian health officials opined that since the genetic constitution of an Indian can be different from people in Western nations, this is a pre-requisite. The developer has to agree for the local trial to determine if a vaccine is safe and generates an immune response in its citizens.
Serious allergic reaction like Anaphylaxis reported after administration of Pfizer vaccine
The US-based pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech had during initial trials of its vaccine had said that they had not found any serious safety concerns and claimed that the vaccine is more than 90% effective. Britain had become the first Western country to authorise the emergency use of a coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. However, following the implementation of the first dose of the vaccination, reports of serious allergic reaction like Anaphylaxis emerged. Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs rarely after vaccination.
Logistics is another major concern for the US-based vaccine
Besides this, another major issue pertaining to the Pfizer vaccines is its logistics, since the vaccine requires to be stored in minus 70 degrees (-94 F) or below. Amesh Adalja, the senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said, “The cold chain is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of the delivery of this vaccination.” Even in the big cities, the hospitals do not have such storage facilities where storing vaccines at ultra-low temperature is possible.
In general, the refrigeration system at most of the storage facilities across the globe store medicines at 2-5 degrees above the freezing point. In such a situation, the Pfizer vaccine will be viable only for five days after which it will spoil. Owing to this, the distribution of the vaccination in the developing countries and rural areas pose as a major challenge.
As compared to the US based vaccine, vaccine of Moderna Inc which works on similar technology as Pfizer, need not be stored at such low-temperature. Vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc too can be stored at 2-8 degrees, which is in the normal range of storage facilities’ refrigeration units.
In a major development, around 20 former Indian envoys spoke out against the prejudiced World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s Agreement on Agriculture.
The open letter stated that the Agreement was conceived by the United States and the European Union (EU) without consulting the other members of the World Trade Organisation. “The WTO Agreement on Agriculture is characterised by democratic deficit and based on commercial realpolitik,” the former envoys stated.
The letter argued that domestic subsidies, one of the three pillars of the Agreement, has penalised the developing and least developed countries but not the developed ones.”It is almost as if Special and Differential Treatment was extended to the developed countries and not to the ones who deserve it, namely, the developing and least developed countries,” the letter pointed out.
A group of Indian envoys call spade a spade!
They show mirror to those who, in the WTO, oppose India’s food stockpiling & our grant of MSP & then indulge in doublespeak, subjecting us to pious homilies on farmer protests. A must read. pic.twitter.com/zdDoYJwi6M
The former envoys emphasised that although the US, EU and the UK wanted India to liberalise the agriculture markets, yet several legislators from these countries have expressed open support for anti-farm law agitation in India. “Obviously, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. The balance between market forces and food security/farmers’ welfare is a delicate one and it is the sovereign prerogative of Governments to strike that balance,” they added.
While urging the developed nations to amend the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the letter stated, “India will gradually and incrementally allow the market to decide prices of agricultural produce, not because of the WTO or because the developed countries are saying so, but because it is in the fundamental interest of the Indian farmers and will enable the latter to double their income.” The ex-envoys reiterated that it would help India and other developing nations to ensure food security and end hunger.
They also highlighted the ironical stance by developed countries on the subject of Agriculture. The US and EU have argued over 50 years that agriculture cannot be subjected to the same General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules as shoes and chemicals. However, they are now pushing for ‘special status’ of agriculture in developing nations. “At present, the Agreement has clauses on domestic subsidies and special safeguards which are in favour of farmers of developed countries,” they further added.
US, EU did not consider Indian demands
The letter reiterated that for countries such as India, which actively engages in public stockholding of food grains, the AMS cannot exceed 10% of the value of the production of the commodity. “If there is an import surge of a particular commodity (say wheat or sugar), countries like India want to be able to impose safeguard duties to avoid the danger of their own farmers getting wiped out because of a huge increase in imports,” the former envoys emphasised. They said that the reasonable demand did not find any takers in US or the EU.
Ex-Indian envoys ask WTO to support India’s farm laws
“The WTO faces an existential crisis. If it is to revive itself as a credible forum for negotiations, it must be seen as helping its Members achieve the SDG goals,” the letter said. The former envoys pointed out that India can only achieve the goals through public stockholding since the country did not have a formal ‘social security system’ or a ‘system of unemployment dole’. The letter concluded, “The farm laws passed by the Government recently strike this delicate balance. The developed countries led by US, EU and the Cairns Group have opportunity to be on the right side of history here.”
