At a time when India is turned to for lucrative investment opportunities, as the country offers promising growth in various sectors, some elements are trying to defame the Asian subcontinent. A full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal is going viral in social media, which takes more than a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his key ministers and officials.
An Indian American filed a petition with the US State Department under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. He urges economic and visa sanctions against 11 Indians, including Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, for corruption and serious violations of human rights.
"These Modi Government officials have decimated the rule of law by weaponising the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors. We have asked the US government to impose economic and visa sanctions against them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Under Modi, a decline in the rule of law has made India a dangerous place to invest. If you are an investor in India, you might be next," read the mala fide ad titled 'Wanted Modi's Magnitsky 11'.
The WSJ advertisement names:
- Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister
- Rakesh Sasibhushan, Chairman of Antrix Corporation Limited ("Antrix")
- Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General
- Hemant Gupta, Judge, Supreme Court of India
- V. Ramasubramanian, Judge, Supreme Court of India
- Judge Chandra Shekhar, Special Judge (PC Act), New Delhi
- Ashish Pareek, Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBI, New Delhi
- Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Director of Enforcement, Enforcement Directorate
- R. Rajesh, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate
- N. Venkatraman, Additional Solicitor General of India
- A. Sadiq Mohamed Naijnar, Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate
The ad alleged that these officials make India an unsafe place to invest.
Who is behind the malicious ad?
Ramachandran Viswanathan, dubbed a "Fugitive Economic Offender" by the ED, is seeking the above-mentioned ministers and officials to be banned by the Biden administration. He is using the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016, which empowers the US government to sanction foreign govt officials, freeze their assets and stop them from entering the country for "human rights violations," to fulfil his agenda.
Frontiers of Freedom, a US-based organisation, filed a petition on behalf of Viswanathan with the US State Department in August this year. A full-page ad declaring Nirmala Sitharaman and 10 others as PM Modi's "Magnitsky 11" was also run.
Viswanathan is the CEO of Omnispace, a company focused on delivering 5G-based "one global network". He is also the co-founder of Devas Multimedia, which appears to be the foundation of Viswanathan's beef with India.
What's his beef with India?
It all started in 2004 during the UPA-led government in India. The Bengaluru-based Devas Multimedia, a satellite-based multimedia service provider, entered into a deal with Antrix Corporation, the commercial and marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which included the latter building two satellites.
Devas was to use the S-band transponders of the two GSAT 6 and GS satellites to provide multimedia services in India. But the deal fell apart and it also came under scrutiny over allegations of irregularities and corruption. The then-government terminated the deal in 2011, which miffed Viswanathan. Thus began an endless legal battle, even as Devas turned to international courts to seek compensation.
Reactions
Viswanathan's legal battles aside, his attempt to malign India hasn't sat well with the masses. Many have criticised the full-page ad in WSJ.
A photo of the page was shared on Twitter by Indian-American Asha Jadeja Motwani, an entrepreneur. "Full page ad war on India's growth & progress. WSJ These are deep pocketed Hindu haters, pretending this is a war on Modi. Shame on Wall Street Journal for allowing such misinformation & lies. My guess? CAIR & IAMC are drawing from the "oil money pool" that these groups use," she tweeted.
Another Twitter user Govindarajan V noted, "Shocked to see such an open hate on India. It is abundantly clear that efforts are on to undermine & block our progress. It's time for all of us including opposition parties to keep India first in their agenda & defeat such divisive forces. Siding with them is anti national."
"Wow!! Does the Govt even allow such ads to be floated around? Article, I can still understand, it's the opinion of a writer or the newspaper. But to allow such ads and that too without someone taking responsibility, is nothing but ink terr0rism.?" Another user tweeted.
