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CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies > Rahul Gandhi
Disinformation Hindus Human Rights Misinformation Politics
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Identity in Flux: Understanding Complexities of Self-Perception

Balbir Punj While speaking in Lok Sabha on Monday (July 1), Rahul Gandhi issued a proclamation, “Aap Hindu Ho Hi Nahin” (You are not Hindu). The diatribe was undoubtedly directed against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues, fellow members of both houses and millions of voters and supporters of the saffron outfit. Rahul’s profane rant smacked of three things— his sense of entitlement, ignorance of Indian ethos and outright contempt for democratic norms. Can Rahul or anybody else decide who is a Hindu or not? During the just concluded Lok Sabha polls, 23.59 crore Indians had voted for the BJP. There would be millions more who support the BJP but couldn’t vote for their favourite party for various reasons. Without a doubt, overwhelmingly, they identify themselves as Hindus. In a jiffy, Rahul stripped them of their faith and identity! Who can dare make such a condescending statement? Only someone with an acute sense of entitlement. Unlike Abrahamic religions, Hinduism is timeless (hence also Sanatan), catholic and pluralistic. There is no centralised authority in Hinduism, and none has any right to pass such edicts regarding the faith. However, Abrahamic faiths are different. The Ahmadiyya sect in Pakistan has been shunned from Islam, and its followers are routinely persecuted because their belief system, differs a little from the mainline Shia-Sunni doctrine. These two sects are also perpetually locked in internecine wars because of their conflicting theological beliefs. Ironically, Ahmadiyyas were at the forefront, along with the Communists and Muslim League, in striving for an Islamic Pakistan. Doesn’t Rahul somewhat sound like a Pakistani establishment when he decrees in Lok Sabha who is a Hindu and who isn’t? During his one-hour 40-minute speech, Rahul also observed, “Those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hatred, violence and untruths 24×7.” Can anyone, including Rahul, make such an acerbic statement about Islam, or any other faith? Don’t miss the contradiction. After suspects are identified following a terror episode anywhere in the world, the usual comment is: a terrorist has no religion. The perpetrators of terror, however, insist that they caused the mayhem as a part of a divine mandate ordained by their faith. Rahul’s scalding allegations against Hinduism are without any basis whatsoever. He can get away with this charade because of the immunity members of Parliament enjoy. In their entire history, Hindus have resorted to violence only to defend themselves. Hinduism is inclusive and has in its fold numerous traditions, all equally valid – ranging from devout idol worshippers to outright heretic atheists. Anyone who cares to call oneself a Hindu is a Hindu. Rahul spoke about violence and hate. Given his track record in this respect, he sounds sanctimonious? While Rahul argues against the two evils, he happily promotes divisive narratives and conveniently allies with those very forces that seek to divide Indians based on caste, region and faith. Reducing Indians to sheer caste identity was central to his election campaign. Hate and divisiveness, the bane of India, have been introduced into its socio-economic-religio-cultural life by alien creeds. Use of violence and or deceit are a part of their playbook while dealing with non-believers or dissent within their ranks. Uniformity, particularly in matters relating to faith, is central to their existence. In contrast, Indian ethos indifferent to uniformity, focuses only on harmony. Who ceded one-fourth of India (August 1947) to the forces of Islamic fundamentalism, where only hate and intolerance rule? Pakistan is not just a country; it’s a bigoted idea that transcends borders. Recall 1980-90 when Pakistan trained, and funded terrorists, with local help, hounded Kashmiri Pandits, out of their ancestral homeland. In a recent interview, the newly elected National Conference Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi threatened a repetition of the black decade in retaliation to the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. In the recent past, Kanhaiya Lal (28 June 2022) in Rajasthan and Umesh (21 June 2022) in Maharashtra, were beheaded by Islamic zealots. Last week (June 30, 2024), a young couple was publicly humiliated and battered in Taliban style by a muscleman affiliated with the local ruling party in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur. On 27 June 2024, a Muslim woman was stripped, dragged by her hair and thrashed for over an hour by goons for supporting the BJP in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar. Berating and inhuman torture of victims such as Anees Mian-Parveen Jahan (Uttarakhand, 2022), Samina (Madhya Pradesh, 2023), and Tahira Bano (Rajasthan, 2023) don’t figure in public discourse. Killings of Hafizul Sheikh (West Bengal- 2024), Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh (J&K- 2024), Babar Ali (Uttar Pradesh- 2022), Sheikh Waseem Bari (J&K- 2020) etc. could get hardly any traction at home or abroad. They were all victims of hate and were guilty of a common ‘crime’: supporting the BJP. This list of hate crimes is indicative and not an exhaustive one. This loathsome itinerary of hate and violence, however, doesn’t concern Rahul. His public utterances are shaped by the compulsions of power politics and the requirements of the ideological ecosystem he is aligned with. His narrative, divorced from reality, is solely fashioned by political dividends he is aiming to reap. No wonder, with complete disregard to facts, he conveniently blames only those “who call themselves Hindus…” for these twin evils. There is a method to this madness. For decades, Congress has been on the decline. Rahul is in a hurry to resurrect it. His options are limited. It’s difficult to fault the incumbent Modi with his performance- his achievements are outstanding in most areas. As a shortcut to gather electoral support, Rahul is increasingly leaning on identity politics and aligning, knowingly or unknowingly, with the forces of neo-colonialism, that abhor a resurgent India. Rahul won Wayanad with the Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) support— a rabidly communal party, a post-independence reincarnation of the infamous Mohamed Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League. M. Muhammad Ismail fathered IUML after independence. Prior to 1947, he was the President of the Madras unit of the

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Disinformation Geopolitics Misinformation Security
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575

Propagating ‘Truth’ That Never Existed!

Both, US and China used devious means to force a tilt, influence outcomes of recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in Bharat Vinod Kumar Shukla Cognitive warfare is the new tool deployed by a few global powers to ensure their continued dominance on others throwing ethics and internationally accepted practices to wind. These powers have attempted suppression of fair practices in election of a government especially in countries where there is a vibrant democracy. Among others, India too faced challenges where democratic process was allegedly tried to be influenced by creating false narratives with help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Media influencers. Most of these falsehoods were not only funded by foreign countries but ideas too were generated on foreign soil. Investigations revealed that STOIC, an Israeli company attempted to interfere in Lok Sabha elections by peddling anti-BJP agenda dubbed as ‘Zero Zeno.’ Efforts were made to manipulate public opinion even in Canada, US, Israel, and Ghana. With help of AI, web articles and social media, comments and content were generated and pushed across Instagram, Facebook, and X focusing on criticizing the BJP and praising the Congress. AI was used to create fictional characters and fake social media accounts with specific variables like age, gender and location. Bogus accounts were created to engage people with such posts that gave the impression of genuine audience interaction. China too was actively involved in this disinformation campaign and escalated its campaign for changing the government in India after People’s Liberation Army was humiliated both in Doklam and Galwan Valley. Artificial intelligence was craftily used to construct propaganda content, images and videos targeting parties and politicians opposed to Chinese hegemonic design. Microsoft had cautioned that China was poised to use generative AI to sway elections all across scheduled for this year. Chinese interference is deeply rooted in its expansive ‘influence operations’ (IO) targeting leaders of other countries with its disinformation campaign to undermine leaders by portraying them as weak and vulnerable. Spamouflage Dragon or Dragon Bridge or Storm 1376, a key Chinese disinformation propagator network has been functioning since 2017-18 on social media. Its activities came to notice when around 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to this network were shut down by Meta in August 2023. In November 2023, approximately 4,800 fake Chinese social media accounts impersonating Americans were shut down for disseminating narratives designed to polarise public opinion through biased political content ahead of US elections. The same was done in Australia and the Philippines during 2022 elections. Beyond social media, Chinese IO strategies include both overt and covert tactics involving cultivation of assets like local and independent media, influential personalities, political parties, business figures and NGOs. Preference for particular candidates was subtly communicated not through direct diplomatic utterances but via Chinese state-affiliated media and United Front Work Department (UFWD) which is dedicated to exerting overseas influence. On the parallel, investigation on Chinese funding of NewsClick in Bharat is underway and the matter being heard in the court. Chinese objective of meddling in elections is to ensure that elected candidates or parties should adopt a pro-China stance. These disinformation campaigns aim to sway election outcomes by undermining voters’ confidence in candidates not favoured by China. Recent escalation in Chinese disinformation involves leveraging generative AI technology to prepare propaganda images and videos. These AI-generated materials target parties and politicians critical to China. Initially this technology was used during presidential elections of Taiwan to undermine Taiwan’s democratic framework, promoting a pro-unification narrative, and weakening Taiwan’s ties with the US. In fact, Chinese disinformation campaigns on the national security of various countries have prompted many to ban popular Chinese social media platform TikTok. But, reports indicate that China continues to meddle in foreign elections to emerge as a global power. Besides China and Israel, millions of dollars were spent to impact elections in India. Western interference from European Union and US too were in the game. Media outlets with tacit, explicit funding and a few funded by organizations with background in peddling agenda based narratives through stories on ‘random WhatsApp groups’ by creating heroes out of Pak-sponsored stooges. Recent elections in India witnessed the most intrusive foreign reporting with overwhelming negative and brazen reports about ruling dispensation. All this was done to have a Parliament with leaders who can help impose political agenda of countries which are instrumental in spreading these canards. The objective is to secure a favourable outcome aligning with its strategic interests. Western media was found indulging in mud-slinging to sully the image of select leaders and their party in a sinister attempt to impact voter’s minds. Dangerous narratives were peddled by a so-called Indologist Christophe Jaffrelot as the ‘caste census’ narrative allegedly came from France. Jaffrelot extensively writes on India. The French media had shown special interest in these elections with extensive reporting by Le Monde, Le Soir, France 24, La Croix (International), Le Temps, Reporterre, and Radio France Internationale (RFI) to shape up a particular narrative to impact Indian elections with Jaffrelot as an expert on almost everything in India. With the help of Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) at Ashoka University, Jaffrelot and his disciple Gilles Verniers aggressively peddled a narrative that ‘lower castes’ had lesser representation in politics, quoting profile of MPs in 2014 Lok Sabha. However, the expert duo immediately changed their stand when the 2019 Lok Sabha had a higher representation from lower castes. In fact, never before was he referred by so many outlets in such a short time. He wrote a paper on ‘need of caste census’, in September 2021. US and China attempted to play dirty in just concluded elections with startling discourse being Caste Census which certainly was not organic. Jaffrelot had allegedly received massive funding from the US-based ‘philanthropic’ organization Henry Luce Foundation (HLF) around the same time. HLF was founded by Henry Luce, the founder of TIME magazine. Lesser known fact about Luce is his alleged deep-state connections. He was born to Presbyterian Christian Missionaries and supported by

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Disinformation Hindus Misinformation
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683

‘Sanatan Dharma is a Way of Life’

Where are the limits to this culture of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’, exhilarating mode of realised, liberated being Oopalee Operajita Rahul Gandhi’s recent article on Hinduism/Sanatan Dharma (“Satyam Shivam Sundaram”, Indian Express, October 1) is, tragically, largely based on fear. In the first paragraph alone he uses “fear” and “frightening” multiple times. Why would anyone want to spend their lives recoiling in fear? A sense of overriding fear destroys everything else. The piece is obviously aimed at a certain enclave and by being circumlocutory and agenda driven and hence, Gandhi loses sight of the central tenet of his own essay. As a little girl in Rishi Valley School, the first — and most important — lesson I received from our founder J Krishnamurti’s teaching, was the importance of freedom from fear. I recall the very moment he spoke to us, in our small auditorium, about fearing the idea of a snake more than the snake itself. I was seven: It was a transformational moment in my life. Shashi Tharoor sends this article up on Twitter / X, gushing about its ocean imagery as if it is something novel, whereas, the ocean and water are dominant metaphors in ancient dharmic texts. The Taittiriya Upanishad, for example, describes the relation of five koshas (sheaths, in humankind) to water. The “Aquatic Absolute” (inspired by Vedanta), runs much later through Rabindranath Tagore’s writings as well. Tharoor also says on Twitter / X that there’s “nothing new to say in Hinduism” — a surprising statement, especially emanating from him — which is both meshuga and lacking in veracity. I read from the Upanishads, the Vedas, the Valmiki Ramayana, and the Puranas, almost each day — and the limitless wealth in them is as vast as the universe. It is ironic that Rahul Gandhi comes up with this article when he has been conspicuously silent these many weeks, as his party’s coalition partners have mutilated the Sanatan Dharma, without remotely understanding it. Mum has been his deafening word. Some duplicitous leaders have ferociously attacked the Sanatan Dharma, both in India and, reprehensibly, on foreign shores, on many occasions, for the sake of appeasement — the hypocrisy is galling, but predictable. What’s driving Gandhi’s current janeudhari agenda? And would it be conflated with the forthcoming state elections? Sanatan Dharma is certainly a culture, an unbroken civilisational reality, and richly felt experience; because a culture is a way of life, a cultivation of the treasured self, and larger than any set of religious prescriptions. For millennia, this dharma has valorised the knowledge of the self (the atman), which the great sage Yajnavalkya views as identical to Brahman, or consciousness. We don’t swim in the oceans and, concomitantly, fear sinking — we swim to merge with the ocean, let our spirits sing, and set ourselves free. Rivers are, as individual souls (atman), merging into the supreme soul of the ocean of the immortal Brahman, (Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.8). Brahman has also been defined as “the creative principle which lies within the whole universe”. What’s to fear in that? And where are the limits to this culture — this exhilarating mode of realised, liberated Being (Aham Brahmasmi)? Nobody owns the Sanatan Dharma; but it has an ancient history, astounding intellectual rigour and richness, and a land of origin. It repeatedly alludes to the many, equally valid, paths to the Truth. But, kudos and gratitude to those who use their goodness and understanding to prevent it from being mauled by frequent, feral attacks from troglodytes. I recall a passage from an Upanishad: Tatha vidvan namah-rupad vimuktaha/Parat-param purusham upaiti divyam [The knower of Brahman casts aside all names and forms, and attains to the Supreme Being (Energy)], which is above all conceivable divinities in the cosmos. Thus, the Supreme Being becomes our whole. (Author has been a distinguished fellow at Carnegie Mellon University since 1990. She is a global advisor on public policy, communication, and international relations. This write up first appeared in The Indian Express)

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Leadership
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553

‘Mother India’ Noise for Votes May Not Work

Congress will have to rejig its strategy to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. No confidence motion was lost opportunity for grand old party. K.A.Badarinath Who killed ‘Mother India? Was it the Narendra Modi government as alleged by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi or the grand old party that held the country’s reins for over five decades? Well the answer is quite obvious and straight. Feigning ignorance on ignominious and corrupt 50-odd years Congress rule post-independence may not help make out a case for the party with diminishing returns. A party that virtually turned ‘pigmy’ due to its own making and misrule has launched a desperate bid to resurrect itself in conjunction with 13-other splinter political groups run by ‘dynasties’ like the one that Rahul inherits. It was rather valiant for Rahul Gandhi to make a sweeping charge against Narendra Modi government holding it squarely responsible for turmoil in Manipur or communal flare up in Haryana. To deduce that Modi government was responsible for killing ‘Mother India’ or ‘Bharat Mata’ was chivalrous for a leader whose party oversaw the partition of India, conceded Aksai Chin to China and its leaders sought referendum on Kashmir like Brexit vote that was held in United Kingdom.  Congress ecosystem seems to get a high by referring to ‘Bharat Mata’ or mother India often used by right wing forces with reference to this millennia old Hindu centric society that absorbed people from all faiths, modes of worship, denominations, religion. Reference to ‘Bharat Mata’ may be Congress way of staking claim on this very wholesome conceptualization of Hindus that the country and its people have a soul, spirit and distinct way of living. The claim also reflects the rudderless Congress political formation’s machinations to pursue a soft Hindutva line to negate the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) influence among vast Hindus that believe in cultural nationalism. Now that Congress has made its move,will majority Hindus buy Rahul Gandhi’s schizophrenia and vote for the party in legislative assembly elections in Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh followed by Lok Sabha polls in 2024? Alienation of majority Hindus due to unabated appeasement of Muslims and Christians is something Rahul Gandhi seems to be working on. Will this ploy work is something Congress strategists have to think? Weaning away nationalist ideological base and ardent Hindus from right wingers may not happen like heaping charges of corruption and corporate dealing on Modi government did not work. But, Rahul Gandhi seems to take on NDA, BJP and Narendra Modi on this plank. It may be a grave mistake that Rahul committed even before campaign for the 2024 elections began. Grand vision of ‘Bharat Mata’, ‘Virat Bharat’ or ‘Akhand Bharat’ of Hindus may be beyond comprehension of Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi who may be looking to poach into BJP-led alliance votes. A thriving society that’s unique in its way of life and spread virtually across South Asia with cultural ethos as one common thread may not be an easy fact to accept by left-leaning Congress that lost its moorings of pre-independence days and fell into the trap of sectarian politics of divisive variety. Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra showing up for ‘aarti’ at temples to garner a few votes cannot be Hindu way of life or what Hindus believe this country as a ‘living entity with spirit and soul’. Otherwise, Congress has till date not offered plausible explanation for its government’s decision to pull back the Indian Army in 1971 war after the forces had Pakistan territory till Lahore. Was it not that Congress then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hailed as leader of 1971 war with iron fists, who did not pursue India’s West Pakistan agenda finalized in consultation with the Indian armed forces? Does Rahul Gandhi even have an inkling of how this played out? Did Rahul Gandhi suffer temporary memory lapse on how his own party government forgot Pakistan Occupied Jammu Kashmir and now his party people have the cheek to seek referendum on Article 370 of Indian Constitution?  A part of this Indian Territory was usurped by China in a 1963 deal with Pakistan, but did Congress remember ‘Bharat Mata’ then? When Aksai Chin was occupied by China and Congress twiddled its thumb in New Delhi, can it now claim that ‘mother India’ was sliced into pieces in Manipur and elsewhere by Modi government? Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was given a free pass in 1950s and 1962 war to takeover Aksai Chin almost the size of Bhutan and was hitherto part of India’s Ladakh and never reflected in Chinese maps. Giving a staged outrageous twist to Manipur issue by claiming that the state has been divided will not work for Congress given that recent violence was handiwork of a combination of forces including the Church, drug mafia, insurgents from across Myanmar border apart from divisive tukde tukde gangs. Like corruption and corporate deals charges did not stick to BJP, separating ‘Bharat Mata’ from Hindutva forces may not happen in a jiffy. Rahul Gandhi has to think rejigging substantive Congress strategy to take on Modi, BJP that emerged as largest political party globally and NDA. (Author is Director & Chief Executive, Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies, a non-partisan think based out of New Delhi)

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