In a recent development spearheaded by the Indian government, a determined effort has been made to curb the dissemination of misinformation targeting India and its Hindu community. A notable outcome of this initiative is the withholding of a specific number of accounts, including those operating under the names “The Hindutva Watch” and “Crime Reports India.” These accounts, which were prolific in the relentless sharing of false news and propagating animosity towards Hindus, have been subject to a ban.
Following the suspension, a chorus of dissent has arisen from Islamic and communist factions in India, decrying the move as an infringement upon freedom of speech and expression. From the co-founder of Alt News, Mohammad Zubair, known for his strong Islamist stance and disdain for Hindus, to Rana Ayyub, who gained notoriety for embezzling funds designated for charitable purposes, coupled with a pronounced anti-India stance, have taken to Twitter to express their opinions on the Hindutva Watch.
Hereafter, I will outline the tweets of those who expressed support for Hindutva Watch. After that, we will delve into an elucidation and examination of the website’s nefarious agenda, the individuals steering its course, their affiliations, and related aspects.
Documenting hate crime against Muslims in India is Crime! https://t.co/CmvGlNuW6W
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 16, 2024
🚨 Update from Hindutva Watch
— Raqib Hameed Naik (@raqib_naik) January 16, 2024
Today, our @X account was withheld in India following a legal demand from the Government of India.
Three hours after the withholding of our account, we received an email from X notifying us of this action. pic.twitter.com/YPAwBl1QdP
Hindutva Watch, a twitter handle that documented and shed light on hate crimes in India has been withheld. pic.twitter.com/GKiQB3MX5f
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) January 16, 2024
Why is Hindutva Watch withheld in India? @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/nNX8zTTd6W
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) January 16, 2024
#WhatTheBlock
— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) January 17, 2024
Twitter/X account of the research group @HindutavaWatchIn has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. 1/6https://t.co/6iJ0Q4VD2t
Does the IT Ministry have an explanation for blocking Hindutva Watch in India?
— Kunal Purohit (@kunalpurohit) January 17, 2024
Hindutva Watch reported hate speech and hate crimes from places where no else did.
Banning it is like asking us to look away from a burning house while the firemen let the house burn. pic.twitter.com/SrD0Vqp7qG
Hindutva Watch and its Modus Operandi
The Hindutva Watch (HW) Twitter account, managed by Raqib Hammed Naik, commenced its operations in 2019. Before HW Naik, was an International Correspondent with The Globe Post, and has contributed articles to media outlets including Qatar state-funded Al Jazeera and Indian left-leaning portals like The Wire and Caravan Magazine. Notably, he has expressed support for and glorified Kashmiri separatism, as evident in a 2018 article for The Globe Post where he referred to the terrorist Burhan Wani as a “21-year-old rebel commander.” Wani, who joined the Hizbul Mujahideen at the age of 15, aimed to dismantle India. Furthermore, Naik has been a recipient of a Pulitzer Center grant. It’s pertinent to note that the Pulitzer Center secures funding from entities such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, Omidyar Network, Ford Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Presently, in addition to HW, Naik is affiliated with Two Circles.net, a disinformation network engaged in a concerted information warfare campaign against India.Â
The HW X handle disseminated selectively edited videos, asserting that Muslims faced pervasive fear and bias in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Furthermore, the handle presented videos from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gatherings, labeling them as precursors to a potential genocide against Muslims. This platform played a pivotal role in propagating fear among Muslims and fostering animosity against Hindus. The videos were meticulously edited to deceive even minimally literate individuals within the Muslim community, ultimately contributing to the cultivation of resentment towards Hindus. In a nutshell, the X handle was a keg powder with the potential to harm the Hindus and the fabric of India.
Its Affiliations
In 2022, a significant and conspicuous transformation occurred within Hindutva Watch, with discernible traces of Pakistani influence permeating the website. Disinfo Lab, through a comprehensive expose, dismantled Hindutva Watch’s malevolent agenda. During this period, a novel map surfaced on the HW website, credited to a Pakistani individual named Sardar Ali Kayani, purporting to depict the purported persecution of Muslims in India. Kayani, displaying a palpable bias against Hindus and India, shared various anti-India tweets on the platform. Furthermore, he voiced support for the Pakistan Muslim League party, led by Nawaz Sharif.
Sardar Ali Kayani has not only crafted a map for Hindutva Watch but has also extended his cartographic efforts to create a map for Nawaz Sharif’s political faction. Notably, an individual associated with Hindutva Watch is concurrently linked to a prominent national-level political party in Pakistan. In a manner typical of many Pakistanis exhibiting anti-India sentiments and obsession with Kashmir, Kayani initiated an online campaign advocating for the ‘freeing of Kashmir.’ The alignment of these sentiments requires no speculation. Operating under the alternate identity Cyrus Kayani on X with the handle Adilicious, Kayani was identified by Disinfo Lab as the proprietor of the website Global Village Space.
Global Village Space (GVS) serves as a platform propagating a plethora of anti-India narratives, encompassing issues from Kashmir to Khalistan and various other secessionist endeavors. These narratives align with a consistent and longstanding aspiration of the Pakistani establishment, spanning different governments and regimes. Notably, there is a deliberate effort to maintain a distinction between the Twitter identity, tailored for domestic propaganda, and another identity designated for external propaganda, a strategy executed through distinct avatars. This particular avatar is also shared by Two Circles.net (TCN) members.
The revelations by Disinfo Lab exposed that Two Circles.net (TCN) is an integral part of Pakistan’s ‘Op Tupac,’ which seeks the Balkanization of India. TCN’s founder, Kashif Ul Huda, stands out as a sympathizer of SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and advocates for the disintegration of India. Another member of TCN, Irfan Mehraj, formerly associated with JKCCS (Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society), faced arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It is noteworthy that before establishing TCN, Kashif oversaw ‘Urdustan’ and ‘IndianMuslims,’ platforms that endorsed the concept of ‘Dalitstan,’ envisioning the fragmentation of India into entities such as Dalitstan, Mughalistan, and Khalistan.
Circulation of Misinformation
At Only Fact, established only in 2022, our investigative efforts have diligently scrutinized and fact-checked approximately a dozen misinformation campaigns specifically targeted at Hindus. Each instance revealed a consistent pattern of sharing selectively edited videos accompanied by half-baked captions, exploiting the propensity of their followers to unquestioningly accept content disparaging Hindus. Nevertheless, our relentless endeavours have successfully exposed numerous instances of false information, strategically disseminated with the intent to tarnish the global image of India.
For instance, in May 2023, Hindutva Watch alleged that the BJP government demolished mosques and dargahs in Dahod, conveniently omitting the context that Hindu temples were also dismantled for developmental initiatives. In March 2023, Hindutva Watch posted an image depicting the Bengali Hindu genocide orchestrated by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, falsely presenting it as a picture of the Jammu Muslim genocide. Similarly, in December 2022, Hindutva Watch asserted that a Muslim colony in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, was being forcibly vacated, concealing the reality that numerous Hindu colonies were also subject to evacuation due to illegal construction. Furthermore, in October 2023, to tarnish India’s image in the Western world, Hindutva Watch shared a story alleging the demolition of a church in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, subtly insinuating religious bias under the leadership of Hindu Yogi. However, upon thorough fact-checking, it was revealed that the church was constructed on government property, and tensions arose from hostilities exhibited by church members towards government officials.
The instances cited above serve as compelling evidence of Hindutva Watch’s modus operandi. In one instance, the platform disseminated false information about mosques to instigate religious animosity between Hindus and Muslims. Another example involved deflecting blame from the genocidal actions of Jinnah by falsely attributing them to Hindus in Jammu, who were already grappling with fears of persecution by Muslims. Additionally, Hindutva Watch propagated fake news against the Yogi government and a church, strategically aiming to tarnish the image of India and Hindus in Western perception.
Conclusion
The operational strategy employed by Hindutva Watch was so robust and influential that even esteemed organizations such as Reuters and Bloomberg inadvertently shared their misinformation. Meanwhile, Pakistani and Indian left-leaning media outlets voraciously consumed and propagated the hatred-laden and fake news against India, akin to vultures feasting on a carcass. The astonishing aspect lies in the fact that these media entities embraced the narratives from Hindutva Watch without conducting the requisite due diligence on the organization. It appears that they were not only blinded by their antipathy towards Hindus and India but also bound by the persuasive influence of Hindutva Watch.
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