Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India, The Guardian has launched a campaign to tarnish the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brainwash the voters and influence the outcome of the polls.
In its desperate bid, the British newspaper published a contentious article (archive) on Thursday (4th April) titled ‘Indian government ordered killings in Pakistan, intelligence officials claim.’
It relied heavily on anonymous sources, particularly from the Pakistani intelligence, to demonise PM Modi as a facilitator of ‘extra-territorial killings.’ In doing so, The Guardian ended up acknowledging him as a defender of India’s security interests from external threats.
The article has been authored by anti-India propagandist Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Aakash Hassan and Pakistani ‘journalist’ Shah Meer Baloch. At the very onset, it described Pakistani terrorists as ‘individuals’ who were supposedly assassinated by the Indian government.
Based on claims by its Pakistani sources, The Guardian accused the Modi government of neutralising a whopping 20 terrorists on Pakistani soil through its ‘sleeper cells’ in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The British newspaper alleged that India began this policy of killing terrorists on foreign soil following the deadly Pulwama terror attack of 2019, which claimed the lives of 40 Indian jawans.
The Guardian repeats unfounded claims of US, Canadian govt
“The rise in killings in 2023 was credited to the increased activity of these cells, which are accused of paying millions of rupees to local criminals or poor Pakistanis to carry out the assassinations. Indian agents also allegedly recruited jihadists to carry out the shootings, making them believe they were killing “infidels,” it wrote.
The Guardian then linked its allegations with unfounded claims by the Justin Trudeau-led- Canadian government about the involvement of Indian Intelligence agencies in the assassination of Khalitani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjer.
It also highlighted the accusations by the US government of India’s supposed attempt to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani extremist eyeing to secede Punjab from the Union of India.
British newspaper cites two ‘Indian Intelligence officers’
The Guardian also claimed to have relied on information provided by two supposed ‘Indian Intelligence officers’, who showed documents indicating the Modi government’s role in extra-territorial execution of terrorists.
It claimed that India’s Intelligence Agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), was inspired by Russia’s KGB, Israel’s Mossad and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia.
“According to one Indian intelligence official, Delhi recently ordered the suspension of targeted killings in Pakistan after Canada and the US went public with their allegations. No suspicious killings have taken place so far this year,” the British newspaper added.
It begs the question as to why two Indian intelligence officials would speak to a newspaper, which has a long history of anti-India propaganda.
At the same time, it is hard to believe that they would divulge any information on secret intelligence operations that could lend credence to The Guardian’s nefarious agenda and tarnish the image of the Indian government at the international level.
In December last year, the American newspaper The Washington Post had similarly attempted to tarnish the image of R&AW and accuse an officer named Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy of discrediting criticism of the Modi government through OSINT handle ‘Disinfo Lab.’
Jihadi killing jihadi: The Guardian and its reliance on Pakistani sources
“Senior officials from two separate Pakistani intelligence agencies said they suspected India’s involvement in up to 20 killings since 2020,” The Guardian wrote.
It claimed to have seen documents about 7 assassinations but could not independently verify them. But this did not stop the British newspaper from publishing a report targeting the Indian government with glaring factual errors.
Based on briefings by its Pakistani sources, The Guardian alleged that the Indian sleeper cells in UAE paid millions of rupees to Afghan nationals to execute IC-814 hijacker Zahoor Mistry (alias Zahid Akhund).
One of the ridiculous assertions made by the British newspaper in its article was that the Modi government roped in one set of jihadists to execute another set of Islamic terrorists on grounds of ‘infidelity.’
Pakistanis claimed that the killing of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Riyaz Ahmed was orchestrated by a ‘Hindu-nationalist’ Indian government through a 20-year-old jihadi named Muhammad Abdullah. Shockingly, The Guardian bought into the bizarre assertion.
“According to the documents, Indian agents used social media to infiltrate networks of Islamic State (IS) and units connected to the Taliban, where they recruited and groomed Pakistani Islamist radicals to carry out hit jobs on Indian dissidents by telling them they were carrying out “sacred killings” of “infidels”. These agents allegedly sought help from former IS fighters from the Indian state of Kerala – who had travelled to Afghanistan to fight for IS but surrendered after 2019 and were brought back through diplomatic channels – to get access to these jihadist networks,” the British newspaper wrote.
It repeated the Pakistani talking points and accused the Narendra Modi-led-Indian government of orchestrating the killings of Pathankot terrorist attack mastermind Shahid Latif, Khalistanbi terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar and wanted Hizbul terrorist Bashir Ahmad Peer.
The Guardian concedes that those assassinated were terrorists
Although The Guardian began its article by whitewashing Islamic terrorists as ‘individuals’ and Khalistani terrorists as ‘activists’, it later conceded that those ‘individuals’ who were killed in Pakistan were not innocent but rather “charged with serious and violent terror offences.”
“The majority of those allegedly killed by Raw in Pakistan in the past three years have been individuals associated with militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, and in several cases have convictions or proven links to some of India’s deadliest terrorist incidents, which have killed hundreds of people. Others were seen to be “handlers” of Kashmiri militants who helped coordinate attacks and spread information from afar,” the British newspaper emphasised.
Sinister agenda of The Guardian backfires
It is interesting to note that the primary objective of The Guardian was to portray the Indian Prime Minister as some sort of ‘fascist leader’, who has no respect for international rules and orders.
Through its article, the British newspaper tried to demonise India as a rogue nation that is on a witchhunt against terrorists threatening its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.
It also sought to lend credence to unfounded allegations by Western nations such as Canada and the United States about India’s supposed involvement in killings on their soil.
if only The Guardian knew how badass this makes Modi look
— Shambhav Sharma (@shambhav15) April 4, 2024
This is S tier pro Modi propaganda pic.twitter.com/KMeUJN1X87
The Guardian‘s decision to publish such an article, relying heavily on Pakistani sources, was aimed at influencing the electorates to vote against a leader spearheading an anti-terror campaign in Pakistan. Inadvertently, the British newspaper, unaware of India’s sentiments on fighting terror, ended up batting for the ruling government.
Popular YouTuber Shambhav Sharma tweeted, “If only The Guardian knew how badass this makes Modi look. This is S tier pro-Modi propaganda”
Political commentator Ajit Datta wrote, “The Guardian has come out with a report claiming that Indian agencies went on a killing spree in Pakistan. Apparently, some Einstein in the Western establishment believes a story like this will serve to shame Modi before the polls. You clueless morons.”
The Guardian has come out with a report claiming that Indian agencies went on a killing spree in Pakistan.
— Ajit Datta (@ajitdatta) April 4, 2024
Apparently some enstein in the Western establishment believes a story like this will serve to shame Modi before the polls.
You clueless morons 🌚https://t.co/xYIYNczdga
Anti-Modi propagandist Sadanand Dhume was also forced to concede that the hit-job on PM Modi by The Guardian will help BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“According to the Guardian, India’s external intelligence agency (RAW) tricked a potential Islamic State recruit into assassinating a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba commander in Pakistan. [Story leans heavily on anonymous sourcing, but iF true it will only help Modi in Indian elections],” he lamented.
According to the Guardian, India’s external intelligence agency (RAW) tricked a potential Islamic State recruit into assassinating a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba commander in Pakistan. [Story leans heavily on anonymous sourcing, but IF true it will only help Modi in Indian elections.] pic.twitter.com/dZCU2oxObl
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) April 4, 2024
After coming to power in 2014, the Modi government has cracked down on terror activities within and outside the country. Regular bomb blasts, which were the hallmark of the UPA rules, are non-existent.
Having said that, there have been deadly terror attacks orchestrated by the Pakistani terror outfits on Indian soil. Unlike the ‘Aman ki Asha’ bandwagon of the UPA, the BJP government responded with an iron fist.
India conducted a surgical strike after the Uri attack and, an air strike after the Pulwama terror attack, isolated Pakistan globally and encouraged nations to sanction the country over terror financing.
The Indian voters are proud to see that the government elected by it is bullish on anti-terrorism and upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation against external threats.
As such, The Guardian report claiming that the Modi government executed 20 terrorists on Pakistani soil since 2020 has effectively played into the narrative of the ruling dispensation
Who is Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Hannah Ellis-Petersen is the South Asian correspondent of The Guardian, who authored the hit piece on the Narendra Modi government. She has a history of downplaying love jihad and falsely associating alleged cases of ‘honour killings’ as consequences of the phenomenon.
During the anti-CAA protests in January 2020, she was busy presenting a distorted version of the Citizenship Amendment Act to the readers of The Guardian.
Instead of highlighting how the law seeks to fast-track the citizenship of persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have been staying illegally in India, the propaganda artist claimed that a women-led protest against the humanitarian law was somehow a counter-narrative of ‘toxic masculinity of Modi’s Hindutva politics.’
She also attempted to give a clean chit to the Islamists, who ran riots in the National Capital in February 2020, by labelling the anti-Hindu carnage as a ‘clash between Hindus and Muslims.’
Hannah Ellis-Petersen had also lamented how the riots did not affect the US-India ties and instead, the Modi government received praise for upholding religious freedom in the country from the President of the United States.
The ‘journalist’ falsely presented restrictions on the wearing of religious clothing in Karnataka schools as ‘hijab ban’ in South India. She also claimed that the reclamation of disputed structures built on top of Hindu temple was ‘Hindu nationalists rewriting India’s history.’
Hannah Ellis-Petersen also wrote several provocative pieces for The Guardian where she tried to guilt-trip Hindus for the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict and the Pran Prathistha of the Ram Mandir. She also tried to dilute the significance of the events by referencing the disputed structure that once stood atop the grand Hindu temple.
Moreover, the propaganda artist linked the outbreak of violence in Leicester City of England in 2022 with ‘Hindu nationalism’, despite no evidence for the same.
In reality, the Centre for Democracy, Pluralism and Human Rights (CDPHR) in its fact-finding report pointed out that Islamists weaponised misinformation in Lecister, committed human rights violations against Hindus and attempted ethnic cleansing that resulted in the temporary displacement of Hindu families.
“Institutional Hinduphobia and bias was deduced through the analysis of the reporting of the Leicester unrest by the media houses BBC and the Guardian when compared to the verified police reports, witness accounts and corroborating reports from think tanks,” the report had said.
The propaganda of Hannah Ellis-Petersen is not limited to shaming the Hindu community or downplaying atrocities committed against them by Islamists. She has authored articles, wherein she dehumanised Hindus participating in Kumbh Mela as ‘Covid superspreaders’ despite no evidence to back her claims.
Typical propagandist she is, far from journalism. She is writing hit job on you and few more. Eventually will publish in a series, whether you gove remarks or not. pic.twitter.com/GCBZMmuozg
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) March 24, 2024
The ‘journalist’ had also given a clean chit to the actual superspreaders of Covid-19 aka the members of the Tablighi Jamaat, who at one time accounted for 30% of all cases of Coronavirus in the country.
Here’s an important — sensitive, powerful, and moving — truth-telling podcast by The Guardian’s South Asia Correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen. Caution: Listeners may find this distressing: “India’s Covid disaster: a crisis for the world”: https://t.co/tlQRsIHilW
— N. Ram (@nramind) April 27, 2021
Nonetheless, her grim presentation and eventual fearmongering about India’s Covid-19 situation in 2021 drew praise from ‘journalist’ turned ‘document cropper’ N Ram, infamous for peddling disinformation about the Rafael deal.
