The massive crackdown by Punjab police and central forces that targeted Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh and his supporters has left anti-India forces abroad shell-shocked.
Cowards of the digital age, who can only hide behind virtual smokescreens, Khalistan’s overseas sympathizers immediately went into overdrive over social media to force India to quit its crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his group Waris Punjab De.
Leading the charge is Mo Dhaliwal, a Canada-based individual.
On March 21, three days after the crackdown in Punjab, a desperate Dhaliwal knocked on the door of Rihanna, the Barbadian singer and actress. “Hey Rihanna, Punjab needs you. Civil liberties suspended. Human rights violated. Communication blocked,” Tweeted Dhaliwal, raising the much worn-out human rights bogey.
Replying to his tweet, Twitter user BadGa1Kiki asked how much money he would pay Rihanna for speaking up. To that Dhaliwal replied: “As much as she wants”.
Mo is no ordinary Khalistani supporter. On the contrary, he runs the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), an organisation that earned notoriety during the farmers’ agitation in India.
M Dhaliwal standing in the entrance of visa Consulate office in Vancouver on 26 JANUARY his uncle a Khalistani was killed by Punjab police after 1984 Riots pic.twitter.com/6RNXNrZC8N
— Naveen Kapoor (@IamNaveenKapoor) February 5, 2021
It was during the protests that Dhaliwal became part of a group which got Rihanna on board to tweet in favour of the agitation. According to an article on the website OpIndia, Dhaliwal was part of a toolkit that included some Indian “activists”, including Disha Ravi, Nikita Jacob among others. Rihanna was then joined by other power celebrities, Greta Thunberg and former pornstar Mia Khalifa, who backed the protests on social media.
Citing media reports of February 2021, the OpIndia article says that Skyrocket, Dhaliwal’s firm, is believed to have paid Rihanna $2.5 million for the favour.
The PJF network also includes the Canada-based Anita Lal. She co-founded the PJF and is the outfit’s Executive Director. She is also the community relations specialist at Windmill Microlending.
The two ran a campaign titled ‘Global Day of Action’ during farmer protests, which can be traced to January 3, 2021. The group apparently provided taglines, hashtags, tweet formats, posters, media kits, printable artwork and much more to push the campaign. These images could be downloaded from the PJF’s and the ‘Ask India Why’ social media pages, says the OpIndia piece. Available in vector format, they could be printed up to a size of 10ft x 20ft.
The PJF cleverly targeted territories where Sikhs reside in large numbers. Top destinations included Canada, US, UK, and Australia. Other targeted geographies cover Kenya, Denmark, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
The idea was to especially penetrate Sangat of Regional Organizations in order to spread mass anti-India propaganda deploying social media and mainstream or vernacular media.
Another prominent suspect of the toolkit is Jagmeet Singh. The Canadian lawmaker has been accused of terror funding and sheltering pro-Khalistani elements. He has admitted on TV that he has a good relationship with Rihanna.
Jagmeet Singh, Rupi Kaur, Simranjit Singh Mann, United Sikhs & 70 more Khalistan propaganda accounts withheld in India. @MIB_India @GoI_MeitY
Commendable! pic.twitter.com/8KFcB9ldIO— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) March 20, 2023
It can now be expected that as the heat turns on separatist Amritpal Singh, all the Khalistani sleeper cells in the virtual world will be activated to ride the social media waves. The problem is, India this time has done its homework and is wide awake.
Also Read: Why New India must defeat Amritpal Singh’s cause of a theocratic Khalistan
