The woke ecosystem relies massively on the vast network of anti-Bharat intellectuals, activists, and academicians to peddle its regular dose of propaganda. The fact that many of these woke intellectuals are of Bharatiya origin and simultaneously enjoy many privileges in Bharat as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) benefits them. The access to the OCI card gives them a freewheeling license to visit Bharat repeatedly at any time, for any length of time, and for any purpose.
This gives their anti-Bharat activities an added immunity since they have access to all sorts of facilities and resources to execute their anti-Bharat agenda and influence various stakeholders. Rajiv Malhotra, noted author, and a pioneer in the research on civilizations has explained in his “Breaking India” series how the anti-Bharat narrative is shaped at the global level by putting forward the so-called Bharatiya voices who peddle propaganda against the country from foreign soil.
The Bharatiya government seems to have realized the gravity of the situation and the threat it poses to the democracy, sovereignty, and integrity of the nation. Some of these desi foreign activists are so powerful and influential that they are capable of multiple things from orchestrating protests within Bharat, to influencing public opinions, and even the elections at large. That’s why the government is now taking proactive measures to curb the powers of these anti-Bharat voices.
As per various media reports, the government has canceled the OCI cards of more than 100 Overseas Citizens of India between 2014 and 2023. The Modi government has canceled at least 102 OCI cards between 2014 and May 2023, according to various media reports which also say that the figure was cited by the relevant authorities in response to an RTI query.
The Centre reportedly cited Section 17D of the Citizenship Act 1955, in response to the RTI query on the number of OCI card cancellations undertaken by the present regime. Section 7D of the law says that the OCI card of a person can be canceled if it comes to the knowledge of the relevant authorities that such cards have been obtained through fraudulent means, or if the cardholder showed disrespect to the constitution, disregarded its values, or in cases where the cancellation of the OCI status was necessary keeping in mind the integrity, sovereignty, and security of the country.
The whole issue came to the fore recently with the cancellation of the OCI card of Sweden-based Odia Professor Ashok Swain over his alleged “anti-India activities”. Apart from Ashok Swain, the government has also canceled the OCI card of UK-based writer and journalist Amrit Wilson. Wilson reportedly moved the Delhi High Court in May 2023 against the cancellation of her OCI card and sought restoration of the same.
French journalist Vanessa Dougnac who had been the longest serving foreign correspondent in Bharat and was reportedly working as the South Asia Correspondent for four French publications was also recently issued a notice by the Ministry of Home Affairs that her OCI card will be revoked within two weeks. As per various media reports, Dougnac has already announced her departure from Bharat. The notice for the revocation of her OCI card reportedly listed various grounds for the revocation ranging from malicious reporting that created a negative perception of Bharat, inciting disorder, not taking the required permission for travelling to restricted areas, and for doing reporting on neighboring countries, according to various media reports.
The government is reportedly also in the process of canceling the registration of over a dozen OCI card holders for carrying out pro-Khalistan activities and anti-Bharat propaganda. According to an article published by Mint in September 2023, the government took this decision in the backdrop of Bharat suspending visa services in its Canadian missions, and directing Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in Bharat.
Amongst the Bharatiya government’s move to cancel the OCI cards of many anti-Bharat activists and intellectuals operating from foreign soil, the woke media has gone into a propaganda overdrive mode accusing the Modi government of using OCI cancellation as a tool to stifle dissent and curb freedom of expression.
A recent article published on the site of the Australia-based think tank Lowy Institute accuses the Modi government of “curbing foreign voices” as “India’s elections looms”. The article takes up the case of the French journalist Vanessa Dougnac and regards the serving of notice to her vis-à-vis OCI card cancellation “a troubling pattern of intolerance towards dissenting views, both domestic and international”.
The article further insinuates that Bharat’s apparent descent to the 161th position in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index is a “stark indicator of the dismal treatment meted out to journalists critical of the government”. It seems the western elite is totally ruffled by the tough stance taken by the Bharatiya government in a plethora of areas. The west has been setting the narrative for what seemed like forever, and now it cannot come to terms with the fact that its relevance in the fast-changing geopolitical order is shrinking and it can no longer control and maneuver the so-called “third world” and ‘developing world” through its army of colonized white-collar activists and intellectuals.
It would be perhaps worthwhile to shed some light on the anti-Bharat propaganda peddled by a few of these “intellectuals” whose OCI cards have been canceled by the Bharatiya government. Let’s begin with Ashok Swain.
Ashok Swain, a Swedish academic of Bharatiya origin has a history of peddling anti-Bharat propaganda. His X account has now been withheld in Bharat. He writes regularly for biased media outlets like the Gulf News and when it comes to stories on Bharat, he routinely indulges in anti-BJP propaganda and constantly portrays the Congress as a savior of Bharat’s democracy. “India: Congress victory strong message against majoritarian politics”, “How Nehru’s vision paved way for India’s space triumphs”, “ Why this is Rahul Gandhi’s crowning political moment in India”?, “Caste politics has gone global. Here is how”, “Why Hinduphobia is a myth”’, a few headlines of the articles penned down by him are enough to give one a peep into Swain’s politics and his anti-Bharat and anti-Hindu diatribe.
One cannot read most of these stories as the content is apparently accessible only to premium subscribers of the publication, but the story headlines are enough to give an idea of the content. By calling Hinduphobia a myth, Swain mocks the sufferings of millions of Hindus who have either undergone persecution or are living a life of acute fear and oppression in Islamic countries. By calling Hinduphobia a myth, the leftist “intellectual” does a disservice to both Hindus and Bharat.
Ashok Swain has been quoted in another article published by a site called newsncr. The article titled “The use of fictional “Hinduphobia” in response to international criticism is inappropriate” quotes Swain in the beginning itself. “According to Ashok Swain, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University Sweden, Hinduphobia in Western countries is a politically fabricated myth created by politically active diaspora groups, so that the BJP government on the growing extremism in India, to be protected from criticism”. These lines are enough to gauge what kind of dangerous narratives are being spread by the likes of Ashok Swain. The woke leftist ecosystem works actively not just to marginalize Hindus and their issues but also tries to proactively cancel any effort by the Hindu community to raise their issues. It uses preemptive propaganda tactics to fulfill this goal. Now, Hindus will have to take lessons from leftist intellectuals in Hinduphobia who will gently explain to them that Hinduphobia is just a myth being created by political Hindus, rest all is cool.
Ashok Swain also contributes extensively to other woke publications like The Wire. In an article from 2018 titled “At Stockholm Summit for Modi, “Nordic Values” take a Back Seat”, Swain laments PM Modi’s then visit to Sweden saying that “Sweden’s red carpet welcome for Modi represents the triumph of commercial interest over ideology. Then, Swain goes on to declare that Sweden’s engagement with Prime Minister Modi goes against its commitment to a “feminist foreign policy”.
He goes on and on about the usual stuff of the violence and discrimination against minorities in Bharat – Dalits, and Muslims, and he even includes women this time. I wonder if it’s possible to write such a vitriolic piece full of subjective hatred without any evidence whatsoever, about the Prime Minister or President of any western country? Is it possible to nitpick a western country, throw in your subjective prejudices, and make statements like “women here are being subjected to endless violence because the regime is so and so”?
The very thought seems preposterous. Then why is it that when it comes to Bharat, such writings are greatly sponsored and encouraged? But times are changing and Bharat is not for sale anymore. That’s why the government has done by right thing by cancelling the OCI card of anti-Bharat propaganda peddlers like Ashok Swain.
Next is Amrit Wilson whose OCI card was reportedly cancelled by the Bharatiya government in 2023. Wilson is a UK-based writer, journalist, and activist who constantly attacks the Modi government for its supposed oppression of minorities. Wilson also calls the Modi government “anti-women” for reasons best known to her, and has written many provocative articles taking forward her thesis. “Modi’s War on Muslim Women”, “The New Strategies of Hindu Supremacists in Britain”, “British Elections and the Hindutva Campaign” , “Gender violence, Narendra Modi and the Indian elections”, “Narendra Modi as Prime Minister would roll back women’s rights in India”, are the headlines of some of the pieces written by Wilson and published in leading UK media publications.
Again, the titles are telling of Wilson’s rather subjective hatred for the Modi government and possible Hinduphobia. But what is interesting here is that in the usual anti-Modi rhetoric of Hindutva supremacy, Hindu majoritarianism, and suppression of minorities, she adds a new dimension of women’s rights. Amrit Wilson argues in many of her articles that the Modi government is anti-women. The Guardian published a piece titled “Narendra Modi as prime minister would roll back women’s rights in India” penned down by her way back in April 2014. Wilson can be seen doing some compelling anti-Modi election campaigning in the write-up as she declares “If Modi is elected, the many struggles rocking India – including violence against women and state repression – look likely to intensify”.
The whole article is a vitriolic diatribe against the Modi government. She quotes the 2011 census figures to talk about the skewed sex ratio in Gujarat and blames Modi’s reign as Chief Minister for the imbalance in the sex ratio! Then, she parrots the usual stuff about the supposed “fascist violence of the Sangh Parivar” and talks about the Godhra rights and Muslims losing their lives and again, somehow connects it with women’s issues by suggesting that the then Modi government in Gujarat hatched a planned conspiracy to inflict violence on Muslims, especially the women.
The article was written in 2014, and since then, a lot has happened. The Supreme Court of Bharat has given PM Modi a clean chit vis-à-vis the Godhra riots. A lot of skeletons of the anti-Bharat propagandists have come tumbling out of the cupboard. Yet, Amrit Wilson’s article is full of dangerous accusations against the BJP. She nitpicks incidents from BJP- ruled states and adds to it the usual rhetoric of Sangh Parivar’s oppression of minorities to make the most dangerous accusations against a political party that had mostly been in opposition at that point in time.
The western media, for reasons best known to them, gives a lot of space and weightage to these self-proclaimed activist types who endorse an extreme and biased viewpoint and write with a lot of hatred and prejudice. Journalism is a measured and balanced art where even opinions are supported with facts and rationality, but these ridiculously biased opinion pieces peddled by such anti-Bharat activists and patronized by the western media seem to have become the norm.
If an “intellectual” is constantly writing the same type of articles systematically and strategically attacking the government of a democratic country on baseless grounds, then it’s not journalism or freedom of expression. It’s political propaganda. Every government has the right to restrict the rights of political propagandists at least in relation to their country. The government of Bharat is not asking people to stop reading the write-ups of these folks. Nor is the government infringing on their right to write or speak whatever they like. It’s simply setting boundaries within its jurisdiction by canceling their OCI status and withdrawing from then the privileges that come with citizenship. That’s pretty reasonable. The basic definition of citizenship entails a sense of patriotism and duty towards the country. If an “intellectual” indulges in constant propaganda against a country from foreign soil in connivance with international actors, it’s only natural they will have to part with their citizenship rights of that country.
Coming to the third “intellectual” whose OCI hasn’t been withdrawn yet but the government has reportedly served her a notice, French journalist Vanessa Dougnac who has been apparently living in Bharat for a long time has already created a lot of propaganda regarding the revoking of her OCI card. The western media is full of articles saying how Dougnac feels that the government of Bharat is literally throwing her out of the country. She is basically playing the victim card by announcing that she is leaving the country even before the final decision on her OCI status comes out. It has to be noted that the government hasn’t yet canceled Vanessa Dougnac’s OCI card yet, but she has definitely been given some kind of notice.
An article published by OpIndia in January 2024 gives a detailed background of Vanessa Dougnac and her anti-Bharat activities. According to the OpIndia article, Dognac is married to a Bharatiya and has been living here for 22 years. She has been given a deadline of 15 days that ended on the 2nd of February, failing which she could lose her OCI status, says the article.
OpIndia report further tells us that Vanessa Dougnac’s work permit was canceled way back in October 2022 and she has not been reporting within Bharat since then. But she has been reporting from countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, etc. for a French newspaper Le Croix ( The Cross) which is reportedly known for peddling fake news.
The OpIndia article further talks about the French journalist’s misleading and sensationalized reporting on the COVID situation in Bharat. “Dougnac’s reports added to such narrative of the ecosystem that was set on damaging India’s global image even as the government took daily measures followed by press briefings to counter fake news and prevent collateral damage that may result out of the then prevailing situation. In a French news website, a report published under Vanessa Dougnac’s name was titled “ The Ganges, ghost cemetery of health carnage” – a title that shamelessly insults the revered mother Ganga(river). She also used the word “illegal cemetery” for the Holy River saying that “Ganges symbolizes the ravages of the epidemic out of control”, says the article.
The OpIndia write-up further talks about Vanessa Dougnac’s targeting of Hindus through her reports on love Jihad maligning the Hindu community by claiming love jihad is a conspiracy theory, without any evidence to back up her claims whatsoever. Many of her articles and reports are full of anti-Hindu bias, as per OpIndia.
Bharat has long been a convenient playground for all sorts of propagandists and anti-Hindu prejudice peddlers. It is obviously shocking to the ecosystem that the Bharatiya government is focusing on weeding out such propaganda peddlers. The message to the woke propagandists is loud and clear – Bharat is not for sale, not any longer.
