US agencies have been urged to immediately initiate an investigation into Disinfo Lab and other Indian-intelligence-run campaigns against US organisations and individuals.
Team Clarion
WASHINGTON D.C. — The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) on Wednesday expressed grave concern at the findings of the Washington Post investigation into The Disinfo Lab, an India-based propaganda group that allegedly runs extensive disinformation campaigns aimed at silencing and discrediting the US government figures, researchers, humanitarian groups and Indian American rights activists and organisations.
Among the myriad groups and individuals allegedly targeted by Disinfo Lab are IAMC, Hindus for Human Rights (HFHR), Congresswoman Pramiya Jayapal, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Equality Labs.
“The Washington Post’s findings should be a wakeup call to any American still in doubt: the Indian government wants to silence critical voices here, in India, and anywhere else where democratic freedoms come into conflict with their domineering aspirations,” IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed said in a statement.
“From the Indian government’s alleged assassination attempt of an American Sikh leader to its alleged assassination of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar, to its organised intimidation campaigns targeting foreign academics and journalists, to the censorship of IAMC and HFHR’s social media accounts, to these latest revelations, the Indian government’s escalating campaign of transnational repression aims at silencing dissent wherever it arises,” the statement added.
IAMC President, Mohammed Jawad, said the US officials must act decisively to deter the Indian government and any of its proxies from making any further incursions into the US political sphere.
The IAMC called upon US agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, to immediately initiate an investigation into Disinfo Lab and other Indian-intelligence-run campaigns targeting US organisations and individuals. It also urged the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate HinduPACT, Hindu Action, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America for their potential collusion with the Indian government’s transnational campaign.
The Washington Post’s report quoted a former employee at Disinfo Lab as saying that the agency was led by Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy, an officer with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency.
The Disinfo Lab propaganda has been amplified extensively on social media by senior officials within Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as by the US-based Hindu organisations, including HinduPACT and Hindu Action, both offshoots of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. Lobbyists of both of these groups have distributed Disinfo Lab reports in various US political venues, including at the 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C.
