Veera Vanchinathan

 Shri #Vanchinathan-In 1911, he made a significant impact by assassinating the tax collector of Tirunelveli, Robert William Escourt Ashe, at a railway station. To honor his legacy, the Maniyachchi Railway Station, where this event took place, was renamed Vanchi Maniyachchi Junction Railway Station.

Veera Vanchinathan: The Hero Who Turned Ashe To Ashes, Unmasking The Falsehood Peddled By Dravidian Gangs

20/06/2023

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On the fateful day of 17 June 1911, history was forever altered by a courageous act of defiance in the heartland of Tamil Nadu. The stage was set at the Maniyachi Railway Junction, a bustling hub of activity, where a train briefly paused, unaware of the impending tragedy that awaited one of its passengers.

In a swift and audacious move, a young revolutionary from Tamil Nadu seized the moment. Armed with unwavering determination and a resolute belief in the cause he championed, 26-year-old Vanchinathan emerged as a symbol of courage and defiance against British colonial rule. Today, he is hailed as Veera Vanchinathan or Veera Vanchi, an embodiment of valour and sacrifice.

His target was none other than Robert Ashe, the British collector of Tirunelveli District, who represented the oppressive regime that had gripped the land. With unwavering conviction, Vanchinathan aimed his weapon and fired, ending Ashe’s life in an act of revolutionary retribution.

Veera Vanchinathan’s actions reverberated throughout the nation, sending shockwaves through the British establishment and emboldening countless others in the fight for independence. His act of defiance was not simply an act of revenge, but a powerful statement that resistance was alive and thriving in the hearts of the oppressed.

For years, organisations such as Vanchinathan Peravai or Veera Vanchi Iyakkam have been honouring the memory of Vanchinathan by placing floral tributes and adorning his statue in Senkottai. Over the past five to six years, certain fringe groups and individuals have made it an annual tradition to exploit this occasion in order to promote their divisive agenda within the Hindu community.

A lesser-known group called Athi Tamilar Peravai, which purports to be a Dalit organisation, held a memorial ceremony at the tomb of Robert William d’Escourt Ashe. This tomb is situated within the grounds of the English Church, directly opposite St. John’s College in Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli. It is worth mentioning that Ashe was assassinated by Vanchinathan.

Robert William d’Escourt Ashe, commonly referred to as Collector Ashe, held the position of Acting Collector and District Magistrate of Tirunelveli. He played a prominent role in suppressing the freedom movement by employing harsh police measures against patriots. It is believed that he took it upon himself to dismantle the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, which was established by V O Chidambaram Pillai, a renowned freedom fighter who dedicated his wealth to promote the company. The British Raj, concerned about its impact on their commercial interests, resorted to both legal and unethical means to undermine the Swadeshi shipping initiatives, leading to financial losses and the eventual closure of the company.

Vanchi enjoyed a contented family life and held a well-paying government position when he became aware of V O Chidambaram Pillai, commonly known as V O C, who was actively opposing the British colonialists. In 1906, V O C initiated the establishment of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, an Indian shipping enterprise aimed at challenging the British monopoly in the shipping industry within the region. Additionally, V O C organised workers and led a strike against the management firm A&F Harvey, which was notorious for providing inadequate wages to its labourers. It is worth noting that Ashe provided unwavering support to the said management firm.

Likewise, Ashe displayed a particular interest in accusing Chidambaranar and his associate Subramania Siva of sedition. Consequently, Chidambaranar was convicted and sentenced to double life imprisonment as a punishment. This development ignited strong sentiments among freedom fighters in the area. Ashe, determined to dismantle the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, went to great lengths to achieve his objective. Furthermore, he authorised the use of lethal force during protests against VOC’s arrest by issuing shoot-on-sight orders.

These events deeply saddened the freedom fighters and numerous young individuals. Filled with a desire to seek vengeance for these atrocities, they patiently awaited the opportune moment. Taking inspiration from movements like Abhinava Bharat, they united under the banner of Bharata Mata Sangam. Guided by figures such as Va Ve Su Aiyar, who had provided assistance to Veer Savarkar in England, and Neelakanta Brahmachari, the youth received guidance and direction. Among them, Vanchinathan was chosen to undertake a significant mission. At that time, Vanchinathan held a temporary job in Senkottai within the princely state of Travancore. He had been married for less than a year, and his teenage wife was visiting her family during this period.

On 17 June 1911, Collector Ashe and his wife were travelling to Kodaikanal, a hill station, for a period of rest and recuperation. They were occupying a special saloon cabin, which had been stationed at Maniyachi Junction in anticipation of their onward journey to Kodaikanal. Unexpectedly, Vanchinathan entered the cabin and fired two shots at close range, instantly ending Ashe’s life. In response, Ashe’s wife raised an alarm, prompting Vanchinathan to flee along the platform and lock himself in a restroom. Tragically, Vanchinathan took his own life while inside the restroom. Accompanying Vanchinathan was another young individual named Sankara Krishnan Aiyar, who had been standing outside the cabin.

The Letter

The assassination was triggered by an unambiguous message found in a letter discovered in Vanchinathan’s shirt pocket at the scene. The letter read as follows:

“I dedicate my life as a small contribution to my motherland. I am solely responsible for this act. The English invaders have occupied our country, trampling upon the eternal principles of Hinduism and seeking to destroy them. Every Indian is striving to drive out the English, establish self-rule (swarajyam), and restore the principles of Hinduism. Our great figures such as Raman, Sivaji, Krishnan, Guru Govindan, and Arjuna ruled our land, protecting all aspects of righteousness. However, in our land, arrangements are being made to crown George V, a foreigner (mleccha) who consumes beef.

Three thousand individuals from Madras have taken a vow to kill George V as soon as he sets foot in our country. To make our intentions known, I, being the least among them, have carried out this deed today. This is a duty that every individual in Hindustan should consider.

I will kill Ashe, whose presence here is to celebrate the crowning of George V, a king who consumes the flesh of cows, in this glorious land that was once governed by great emperors. I do this to make them understand the fate that awaits those who seek to enslave this sacred land.

As the least among them, I wish to send a warning to George by killing Ashe.

Vande Mataram. Vande Mataram. Vande Mataram.”

Controversies And Alternative Narratives: Debunking Misconceptions Surrounding The Event

In recent years, a new narrative has emerged surrounding the assassination of Collector Ashe, more than a century after the event took place. This narrative presents a twist in the tale, challenging the straightforward facts. It is intriguing to delve into the details of this alternative perspective. Certain individuals, masquerading as historians, and organisations like ATP have begun projecting Ashe as a “crusader of social justice” and painting Vanchinathan as a casteist Brahmin. They offer two reasons that supposedly led to the “martyrdom” of Collector Ashe:

1) According to this claim, Ashe made Courtallam Falls accessible to all, including common people, despite it allegedly being reserved for upper castes. This so-called “noble” action by Ashe is said to have angered the upper castes, who supposedly “commissioned” Vanchinathan to eliminate Ashe. However, this claim is easily refuted as no concrete evidence or government order supports the notion that Ashe opened the falls to all castes. When nationalists challenged these assertions, the so-called champions of Dalits failed to provide any proof of such a “noble” action.

Another press report provides an interesting and historically plausible perspective. A press report from October 2, 2019, reveals that Mahatma Gandhi refused to bathe at Kutralam Falls during his visit in 1934 due to the prevalence of untouchability there. It is strange to discover that twenty-three years after Ashe’s assassination, the same status quo of untouchability persisted. This information undermines the claims made about Ashe’s actions against untouchability at the falls.

When this theory was debunked, the proponents of the alternative narrative resorted to wild imagination and presented a sentimental story.

2) K G Kalaikannan, the Tirunelveli district secretary of the Aadhi Tamilar Peravai, put forth a version stating that Vanchinatha Iyer was provoked by Ashe’s wife, Mary Lillian Patterson, who assisted a pregnant outcast woman in need of immediate medical treatment to pass through the agraharam. According to this claim, Vanchinathan killed Ashe to protect the Brahminical establishment. However, there is no evidence to prove the occurrence of this incident.

In the face of these conflicting accounts, it becomes crucial to critically analyse the evidence presented and seek a clearer understanding of the true events surrounding the assassination of Collector Ashe.

Amid the concerted efforts by Dravidian outfits to tarnish the legacy of our freedom fighters and distort their sacrifices, it is an opportune moment to reflect on the words of Bharathiyar’s poignant poem: “This crop called freedom is not nurtured by water. It has flourished amidst tears. Do we possess the audacity to ruin it?”.

The targeting of Tamil Brahmins by Dravidian outfits is not a recent phenomenon, but the intensity of their hate propaganda has reached its peak, sparing not even the revered freedom fighters.

thecommunemag.com /veera-vanchinathan-the-hero-who-turned-ashe-to-ashes-unmasking-the-falsehood-peddled-by-dravidian-gang/

Classic example of Christianity PROMOTING ANTI-NATIONALISM. Collector Ashe who ordered the Jalianwala Bhag of Tamilnadu was shot dead by Freedom fighter, Vanchinathan in 1911. Today, the Christians of Tirunelveli are brainwashed so much that they pay homage to Collector Ashe on his Birthday

Bengal Post-Poll Violence

Dear BJP central leadership! BJP workers in West Bengal are so demoralised that in 10 years no BJP will be left in Bengal. In 20 years WB will become a Muslim-dominated state. And in 30 years WB, plus the Northeast, will become part of Islamic Bangladesh.

Bengal Post-Poll Violence: What’s Stopping Amit Shah From Reading The Riot Act To Mamata Banerjee?

Jaideep Mazumdar

Swarajya

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Horrific post-poll violence is a sickening reality in Bengal.

After every election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and supporters are attacked, raped, killed, and driven away from their houses by Trinamool Congress goons.

The bereaved families silently mourn the dead, the injured nurse their wounds, and the displaced return to their homes eventually, but only after paying a stiff fine to the local Trinamool netas.

The cycle repeats after every election.

To be fair, this has been a dreadful practice since the Left Front rule in the state. At that time, it used to be the Congress and Trinamool Congress at the receiving end of the communists’ big stick.

Though Mamata Banerjee promised ‘badal’ (change) and not ‘badla’ (revenge) when she came to power in Bengal in 2011, the Trinamool has far surpassed the CPI(M)-led Left Front in perpetrating violence on political opponents, primarily the BJP. 

The Trinamool’s brutality hardly evokes any protest outside Bengal and is hypocritically ignored by the country's ‘left-liberal’ media. But that is to be expected.

What is unexpected is the BJP leadership’s inaction in saving party workers and supporters from Trinamool’s wrath and, more importantly, its failure to act against the Banerjee government for failing to curb crimes against opposition activists.

Save for just a few, state BJP leaders have failed to stand by their beleaguered karyakartas on the ground, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas and in the urban slums. 

Most BJP leaders and functionaries have stuck to condemning the Trinamool’s atrocities on social media. Except in some cases, the party has failed to help workers and supporters rebuild their lives after their properties and homes were damaged by rampaging Trinamool goons.

This is the case even though it is well known that the BJP does not face a dearth of funds. 

The BJP central leadership, while issuing statements condemning political violence in Bengal, has been stressing that the Trinamool’s barbarism will be countered "legally."

This has meant filing cases and petitions seeking intervention by the courts and complaining to bodies like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

But the legal route is a long and expensive one, without guaranteed outcomes, and entities like the NHRC are unable to take any action against the state government. 

The BJP central leadership’s timid stance is best exemplified by party president J P Nadda’s statement after visiting the family members of slain BJP karyakarta Abhijit Sarkar in early May 2021.

Sarkar, a popular and active BJP worker, was killed by Trinamool goons in front of his family members at his home in Kolkata’s Beliaghata. The attack occurred immediately after the results of the assembly election, which the Trinamool Congress had swept, were announced. 

Nadda, after meeting the bereaved family members, told reporters that "Mamata Banerjee has blood on her hands." Asked if the Union government would take any measures against the state government, he said the BJP would fight the Trinamool in a “samvaidhanik tarika” (constitutional manner). 

That response from the BJP national president was seen as inadequate in the face of atrocities committed by the Trinamool against Nadda's own party workers and supporters.

A senior state BJP leader who is well known for advocating a tough stand against the Trinamool told Swarajya that the party president’s feeble response wasn’t surprising.

"During campaigning (for the 2021 assembly polls), the convoy of Nadda and other senior BJP leaders was attacked in South 24 Parganas district. The vehicle carrying Nadda took direct hits. It was an outrageous incident. But all that the party central leadership did was condemn the attack," said the state BJP leader. 

"Now imagine if the same had happened to Mamata Banerjee or her nephew. She would have created a huge ruckus and whipped up a storm over it. She would not have said she’d fight back ‘constitutionally’. Our central leadership has to realise that Mamata Banerjee does not understand constitutional niceties and legal procedures. She needs to be paid back in the same coin," he explained. 

This sentiment was echoed by a BJP worker from Diamond Harbour, Dulal Das, who had been forced to flee his home due to attacks by Trinamool goons. Swarajya met him at a shelter arranged by a senior state leader. 

"I am disgusted with the inaction by our party leadership. I had to leave my house and take shelter with my relatives in 2019 (after the Lok Sabha polls) and 2021 (after the assembly elections) as well. I could return months later only after paying a ‘fine’ to local Trinamool leaders. One BJP leader, whom I know personally, helped me financially. But that is not enough. I want strong action to be taken against the Trinamool goons. It’s unfortunate that our party leadership is impotent to take action against Mamata Banerjee," he told Swarajya. 

His outburst drew a functionary of the BJP’s South 24 Parganas district unit to our conversation at a party office in South Kolkata. This party leader, who did not want to give his name, counselled Das: "There is a proper procedure to be followed. Just because they (the Trinamool) are breaking the law, we also cannot do the same. Justice will be done; it may take time, but the guilty will be punished." 

Das’ counter to this advice was interesting. "Had Mamata Banerjee been in power at the Centre and the BJP in power in Bengal, and if Trinamool workers were being beaten up in the state, would Mamata Banerjee have issued mere statements condemning the violence and relied on the law? She would have made life hell for the BJP and would have even imposed President’s Rule in the state," he said. 

This feeling has been expressed by a large number of BJP workers and functionaries who spoke to Swarajya over the past week. 

Even senior leaders are criticising the BJP central leadership for its soft stand against the Banerjee government. 

"Not taking a tough stand against Mamata Banerjee and her government has completely demoralised our cadres and supporters. Most of our workers have dissociated themselves from the party after the 2021 post-poll violence due to the leadership’s failure to stand by them. That affected our performance this time as we didn’t have enough workers on the ground to mobilise people and to resist the Trinamool’s rigging and muscle power," said a senior office-bearer of the party. 

He added that after the current spell of violence against BJP workers and supporters, there will be very few workers left in the party. "Mark my words: we will be wiped out in the 2026 assembly election because we won’t have any workers on the ground," he prophesied. 

Former state party president Tathagata Roy, who also served as the Governor of Tripura and Meghalaya, foretells this, as well. In a post on X, he wrote: "Dear BJP central leadership! BJP workers in West Bengal are so demoralised that in 10 years no BJP will be left in Bengal. In 20 years WB will become a Muslim-dominated state. And in 30 years WB, plus the Northeast, will become part of Islamic Bangladesh." 

"Mamata Banerjee has gone scot-free after all the terrible atrocities, including murders and rapes of our supporters and workers. She is least bothered about condemnations and court cases. The only language she understands is action, and unless the Union government takes action, nothing will change in Bengal," said a former state secretary. 

“What stops (Home Minister) Amit Shah from speaking directly to Mamata Banerjee and warning her that attacks on BJP workers and supporters in Bengal will meet with strong counter-action, which may even include the imposition of Article 355, which will mean the Union government taking direct control of the law and order machinery in the state? Mamata Banerjee will only understand such tough threats," the former state secretary added.

Even if the threat of the imposition of Article 355 is not issued directly, BJP leaders say, Shah can always tell Banerjee that violence against opposition workers will not be tolerated and will invite retaliation.

If such a warning is issued in all seriousness, it will have an immediate effect, the leaders say.

Issuing mere condemnations and displaying helplessness (by the central leadership) will only imperil the BJP in Bengal and pave the way for a disastrous performance in the 2026 assembly election, BJP leaders and supporters warn.

swarajyamag.com /west-bengal/bengal-post-poll-violence-whats-stopping-amit-shah-from-reading-the-riot-act-to-mamata-banerjee

False Narratives to almost win elections in 2024 India

 

Setting Narratives can win elections. The INDI alliance almost managed it through its utter falsehood. If not for the strong support of BJP's core voters, by now, India will be ruled by parties controlled by foreign forces. The danger always exists and needs to be actively countered. This article brings out the dangers. 

India's Key Military Ally France Accused Of Interfering In 2024 Lok Sabha Elections To Oust Modi, Others Involved Too: OPED

09/06/2024

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OPED By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

Targeting India’s Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the United States, Britain, and France began well-orchestrated propaganda and handed over millions of dollars to a particular political party with the goal of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BNP) and establishing their exclusive dominance by installing their loyal elements in power. Such activities began almost five years before the election schedule, while a large number of anti-BJP media outlets joined hands in this conspiracy in exchange for hefty amounts of cash.

In French media, agenda-based articles, reports, and analyses were published with unusually high interest targeting Indian elections. A plethora of articles have been published in dozens of newspapers and media outlets, including Le Monde, Le Soir, La Croix (International), Le Temps, Reporterre, and Radio France Internationale (RFI) to shape a narrative and in turn, tamper with opinion-shaping on Indian elections – mostly with the target of defaming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demonizing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and projecting Rahul Gandhi and Indian National Congress (INC) as savior of the democracy.

The most disturbing fact is – that all of those media outlets competed in branding Narendra Modi as a “dictator” and making claims that India is being ruled by an “authoritarian regime.”

The Disinformation Lab, a research group, has documented some of the prominent newspapers and media outlets desperately pushing their own narratives and agendas with the target of misleading the international community as well as voters in India. This time, surprisingly, French media outlets, including France’s oldest, influential, and widely circulated newspaper, Le Monde, have also joined this anti-BJP and anti-Modi propaganda project.

According to The Disinformation Lab, the French newspaper Le Monde alone published a huge number of articles with unfair narratives revolving around manufactured themes ranging from rising ‘Islamophobia in India’ to the ‘undemocratic nature’ of India, to ‘stigmatization of Muslims’ to ‘growing authoritarianism’.

All of such agenda-based propaganda was reportedly manufactured by intelligence agencies in the United States – a country that boasts of being the “democratic heaven” despite the fact that a political opponent of the sitting president is being wrongly convicted on Trump-up charges. Similarly, spy agencies in the United Kingdom have also played a significant role in manufacturing, distributing, and publishing propaganda materials targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In France, anti-Modi and anti-BJP propaganda and even interviews were published, creating narratives and micro-narratives on the Indian Lok Sabha elections. These were led by a French political scientist named Christophe Jaffrelot, who is also known as ‘CJ’.

Christophe Jaffrelot’s narratives and micro-narratives were backed by huge amounts of cash from the United States, UK, and EU nations. It is also rumored that CJ was enjoying patronization from China.

Each of his content was enthusiastically published by the French media because it was “value-added content.” As CJ played a leading role in this propaganda in France, he was frequently quoted not just by French media portals but also by Indian media outlets, including – The Indian Express, The Wire, and other leftist and pseudo-Islamist propaganda machines. All of the international and Indian media outlets portrayed Christophe Jaffrelot as a political commentator and expert on Indian elections.

The Vicious Web Of Anti-India Forces

Christophe Jaffrelot and a band of anti-India propagandists heavily promoted the Caste and Caste Census. George Soros and a few more notorious individuals have spent millions of dollars promoting the “Caste and Caste Census,” while one entity leading this agenda is Equality Labs, promoted by Jamaat-e-Islami and anti-India lobbying groups.

According to information, Equality Labs, which claims to be a progressive organization to combat caste discrimination, was founded by a Dalit techie and activist named Thenmonzhi Soundararajan, born and brought up in the United States. While this organization has been operating since 2016, it was registered only in 2022 as Equality Labs LLC., in Delaware (March 2022, registration number 202251715748) and in California in July 2022. Founder of Equality Labs, Thenmonzhi Soundararajan, was working on grants from the Open Society Institute – an organization funded by George Soros.

It may be mentioned here that Equality Labs has members with questionable backgrounds and affiliations, which include Sharmin Hossain, a Bangladeshi American who served as the Political Director of the organization. Sharmin is the daughter of Mohamed Hossain, a Bangladesh national and a former socialist student organizer with Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD). She also is the 2015 Open Society Youth Exchange Fellow under which she founded the Bangladeshi Historical Memory Project.

Another key figure in Equality Labs is Aruna Lohitakshi Sanghapali – also known as Sanghapali Aruna Kornana, an anti-caste activist and Executive Director of Project Mukti.

She was one of the key people who organized a placard holding with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and former general counsel and the head of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter, Vijaya Gadde, in 2018 to promote ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’ and ‘End Caste Apartheid’ posters.

Equality Labs’s other cofounder is Maari Zwick Maitreyi, also known as Valli Karunakaran. She is also the Director and Executive Editor of the US-based news portal TwoCircles.net, which is an essential part of the US-based Jamaat and anti-India lobbying nexus, including the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

Two more prominent figures in the Equality Labs are – Huma Dar, Pakistani origin provocateur of the Khalistan-Kashmir agenda, and Natasha Dar, granddaughter of Pakistani army Colonel Bashiruddin, who actively took part in the genocide during the 1971 war of independence of Bangladesh. Under the direct command of Bashiruddin, Hindus were brutally murdered, their homes set on fire, and Hindu girls and females raped.

Huma Dar holds a BA and MA from Stanford University and has worked as the International Advocacy Officer at Musawah Global Vision, a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family. She has been a key protagonist of the Kashmir-Khalistan desk conceived by the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and a crucial supporter of Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami’s operations in the United States.

On June 11, 2017, Huma Dar attended a rally of Khalistanis in San Francisco. She was named as an expert in an organization named Stand with Kashmir, which is funded by Pakistani ISI.

In 2019, Dar began calling for the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement against India, which is jointly sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistani ISI. In 2022, Nalin Mehta (political scientist, journalist, and writer) deconstructed the report and highlighted the points that provide glaring evidence of how they have presented a twisted version of the ground reality on the topic.

From churning out wrong data to misinterpretation and misrepresentation of castes to producing misleading data, Mehta points out how the report raises skepticism over such supposedly academic research.

Narendra Modi & Joe Biden

Mehta accuses them of selective reporting to suit a particular narrative of the ruling party promoting the upper caste, and when presented with data contrary to their claim (of Members of Parliament), the dup declares that the number of MPs doesn’t matter. This is despite the fact that Jaffrelot and Verniers have published entire peer-reviewed articles in global academic journals to make the claim of upper-caste dominance increasing in BJP structures, fundamentally based only on data points and charts from the same research on MPs alone.

According to Disinformation Labs, while their report is deconstructed on multiple counts, the funniest part is their fundamental misunderstanding of the Indian caste structure (for which, as foreigners, they can’t be blamed much). They mischaracterized the castes in their report. And yet, they felt entitled enough to prescribe what should be done on caste issues in India. And he gets ample media space to pontificate. However, his narrative doesn’t come only from ignorance but is part of deliberate propaganda, as seen in his argument of ‘non-dominant’ OBCs. The Duo dilutes the ruling party’s efforts to reach out to other non-dominant OBCs, which should be considered one of the most meaningful engagements if the overall objective is empowering all sections of society with participation. To not recognize, let alone appreciate this, smells of inherent bias if not deliberate manipulation.

Musawah Global Vision receives funds from several “philanthropic” organizations, including the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundation.

In 2021, Christophe Jaffrelot published a research report on the need for a caste census in India and subsequently wrote articles in Indian media. And surprisingly, in a country of 1.4 billion, he single-handedly managed to put this topic into public discourse, which was also helped by election season. This was a remarkable feat by any academician. His caste census narrative was surprisingly timed with a fund from a US-based ‘philanthropic foundation’ – Henry Luce Foundation (HLF). CJ had received HLF funding for three years in 2021 – three years, ending in 2024. Again, many other fronts and organizations had received similar funding from HLF – all in 2020/21, all for three years – all focusing on India with a set of predefined narratives.

Jaffrelot was mentioned and re-mentioned in thousands of tweets between 2016 and May 2024, totaling 23,449. Key topics of these tweets were Elections and Voting in India, Caste Issues in India, Muslims and Religion, Modi/BJP, and India-Pakistan Relations.

Other funders or cohorts of anti-India and anti-Modi propaganda rants are the Henry Luce Foundation, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Center for Strategic and International Studies, Asia Foundation (established by CIA), Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs (BCRPWA), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), etcetera.

Srishti Jaiswal is also a member of the Digital Witness Lab (DWL), which is housed inside Princeton University, and has written for The Caravan magazine, Hindustan Times, Newslaundry, Vice World News, and Al Jazeera, among others.

In June 2020, Srishti was caught making Hinduphobic statements on the microblogging platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). Following the incident, Srishti’s then-employer, Hindustan Times (HT), confirmed on X that it had suspended her over the comments she made via her X account.

In March 2020, Human Rights Watch (HRW) received US$ 300,000 from Henry Luce Foundation (HLF), for ‘Renewed support for research about and documentation of religious intolerance and violence in three countries in Asia’. Of those three Asian countries, it was neither specified by HLF nor HRW. However, as the saying goes, the devil lies in the details. The URL of the grant-making link gave away the names of those countries, namely- Myanmar, Indonesia, and India.

The HRW has published reports in 2023, that have been highly critical of human rights issues in India for years. While HRW publishes annual reports for countries, it is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation and over US$ 6.4 million from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) since 2016. HRW has been a recipient of Henry Luce Foundation funding since 1992, and in 2020, it received a US$ 300,000 grant from the foundation to document religious intolerance and violence in three Asian countries, including India. Taking that into consideration, HRW’s reports have been found to be publishing reports critical of India on pretexts of COVID-19 impact in India, Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, plights of Dalits, Tribal Groups & Religious Minorities Clampdown on Civil Societies, and even the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Director of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Asia Division, who earlier worked as the correspondent for Time Magazine and also worked for the Press Trust of India, is connected to PCRes-CRG which has organized several events/webinars on subjects including violence in Nuh (Haryana), Islamophobia, and violence in Manipur, Casteline, Hindu Nationalism, and Indian elections 2024.

One of the latest inclusions in PCRes is Raqib Hameed Naid, the founder of the banned website ‘Hindutva Watch.’ In January 2024, this website was banned in India for violating the Information Technology Act of 2000. Naik has been serving as a key figure in leading the narratives of Islamophobia and even the caste rhetoric, as evidenced by his articles on Al Jazeera. It may be mentioned here that, for the past several years, Al Jazeera English has also been running vile propaganda targeting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League.

Attempts to re-legitimize Raqib and his two projects, Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab (IHL), have been ongoing, both domestically and internationally. It is not surprising that IHL has been proactive months ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

The portal published two reports, purportedly documenting hate speeches against Muslims in India, fanning the narrative of Islamophobia. These reports have been the basis of several articles by national and international media to highlight the rhetoric of Islamophobia in India, especially during the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

Following the suspension of both his portals in India, a New Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) is now representing Raqib to challenge the ban on his portals. Not surprisingly, the individuals engaged with IFF in Raqib’s case have also been part of the same nexus – Soros and Thakur Foundation.

Most recently, India Hate Lab’s report was promoted by one Washington DC-based ‘Dangerous Speech Project,’ which rated India as a ‘violent Islamophobic’ country ahead of the general elections by citing the IHL report. As per its website, receives its operational funding solely from private foundations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations.

Formed in July 2021, the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective (SASAC) describes itself as a group of scholars, activists, and students of South Asian studies and adjacent fields based in North America. The group claims to tackle and fight what it states as Hindutva ideology, otherwise known as Hindu nationalism. After its formation, SASAC established its social media, mainly on Facebook, on July 17, 2021.

In May 2023, SASAC member Dheepa Sundaram was granted up to USD 5000 for the project, “Hindutva Explained: Creating public-facing digital materials for teaching about Hindu Nationalism.

As a result, in February 2024, SASAC published a report titled “Reporting Guide on Hindu Nationalism,” co-authored by Manan Ahmed, Ananya Chakravarti, Ken Chitwood, Rohit Chopra, Dheepa Sundaram, and Audrey Truschke. 134 The report is based on sources and reports, including Freedom House Reports, Hindutva Watch, Amnesty International’s India report, EU Disinfolab’s EU Chronicles report, and Equality Labs’s Caste survey report. It is worth noting that Freedom House, Hindutva Watch, and Equality Labs – have all been repeatedly exposed for fabrication and propaganda.

The group also supported Seattle’s Proposed Ordinance to ban caste discrimination and Equality Labs’ campaign on caste in the US, based on a single rigged Caste survey published in 2018 (and duly funded by philanthropic fronts like Open Society Foundations, Luminate Group, New Media Ventures, and Ford Foundation).

File Image: Modi and Macron

Key Members Of SASAC:

Manan Ahmed, Columbia University; Ananya Chakravarti, Georgetown University; Rohit Chopra, Santa Clara University; Purnima Dhavan, University of Washington; Supriya Gandhi, Yale University; Simran Jeet Singh, Aspen Institute; Davesh Soneji, University of Pennsylvania; Dheepa Sundaram, University of Denver; and Audrey Truschke, Rutgers University-Newark.

In March 2023, a new domain named Friends of Democracy was registered, and the portal was live in the subsequent months. Based in New York, Friends of Democracy claims to fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India to ‘save’ the Indian democracy, calling India a country whose democracy is hanging on a ‘thread’ due to big techs and Hindu ‘extremism’.

After its formation, SASAC established its social media, mainly on Facebook, on July 17, 2021. SASAC is also behind the initiative Hindutva Harassment Field Manual. To date, SASAC has been one of the key forces behind numerous projects in the US, including supporting the Dismantling Global Hindutva (DGH) event to show support for implementing caste in the US university anti-discrimination policies.

On September 5, 2023, Friends of Democracy (FoD) published a blog titled, ‘India spent US$61.2 billion on Russian fossil fuels since the start of the Ukraine war’. The admin of the article was Respublica.

While the elections were underway in India, on May 6, 2024, Friends of Democracy sponsored a report titled “The Modi Mirage: New study indicates decline in India’s global reputation under BJP”. The report has been curated and co-authored by Professor Irfan Nooruddin from Georgetown University, US, Dr Subir Sinha from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, UK, and Dr Ritumbra Manuvie from Groningen University, The Netherlands. “Modi Mirage” relies on a synthesis of recent research by the Pew Research Center in the US, V-Dem, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, Canadian consultancy GlobeScan, US poll firm GQY, and UK’s YouGov.

Common goals of all of these individuals and organizations have been spreading lies targeting Hindu nationalists, the Hindu religion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

Key policymakers in the West believe – that until the BJP is in power, India shall remain a powerful country and continue its progress and prosperity. The result of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections has been a grand victory for the enemies of India.

www.eurasiantimes.com /indias-key-military-ally-france-accused-of-interfering/

Article by - Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research scholar, counterterrorism specialist, and Editor of Blitz, a newspaper published from Bangladesh since 2003. He regularly writes for local and international newspapers. Follow him on X @Salah_Shoaib