{"id":2080,"date":"2021-01-08T08:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T02:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/?p=2080"},"modified":"2021-01-08T08:21:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T02:51:00","slug":"useful-idiots-or-malicious-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/useful-idiots-or-malicious-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers\u2019 Protest &#038; Khalistan: Useful Idiots or Malicious Agenda?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Did Indian Right Wing propagate Khalistani narrative regarding Farmers\u2019 Protest?<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During this chilly winter season, while we all are sitting at home, thousands of farmers are gathered outside Delhi borders to protest the new Farmer Bills. They are raising their voices against several provisions of the bills, including allowing direct role to corporates, and fear of losing the MSP safety net.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>But where did this chatter emerge from?<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, while the farmers were fighting for their rights, a new kind of narrative emerged on social media regarding the protests i.e. the protests have been infiltrated by Khalistanis. The claims vary from \u201cKhalistani participating in farmers protest\u201d; to \u201cKhalistanis hijacking protests\u201d to outright declaring the protests as Khalistanis.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This report investigates these claims and tries to identify people behind the narrative; while also examining whether the Right Wing trolls or the <em>\u2018AndhBhakts\u2019 <\/em>are responsible for enabling this narrative \u2013 willingly or unwillingly.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Executive Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The new farm laws introduced last year, has thrown the Indian farmers in a state of chaos. Fearing the repercussions that the new law may have over them, the farmers took to streets and marched towards the capital.<br \/><\/li><li>However, while the poor farmers were braving the bitter winter to seek justice, a new kind of narrative seeped in, claiming that Khalistanis have infiltrated the protest and anti-India elements are pulling the string.<br \/><\/li><li>Our analysis establishes that the Khalistani elements abroad and their Pakistani enablers saw the protests as an opportunity to push their agenda. However, while no one in India took them seriously, leave aside farmers, they found a ready audience in the Right-Wingers.<br \/><\/li><li>Initially, some RW minions started posting about the Khalistani connection to farmers\u2019 protests, taking the Pakistani propaganda as \u2018proof\u2019. Very soon, some TV Channels and Journalists also started spreading the false news, further creating noise about the issue.<br \/><\/li><li>There was still not much discussion about the Khalistan in the context of protests, when the usual suspects such as SFJ, Dal Khalsa etc started adding more oil to fire. Not surprisingly, the ISPR sponsored social media, such as Veena Malik and JEI Youth Leader Abdul Waheed Afridi further pushed the agenda.<br \/><\/li><li>This time the Indian Right-Wingers (RWs) took swallowed the whole propaganda Hook, Line and Sinker. Unaware of the fact that their actions are actually going to fuel the wrong cause, they start spreading the charade that \u201cKhalistanis have penetrated the farmers\u2019 protests\u201d. (It is also possible that the RW did it deliberately to malign the farmers\u2019 protests)<br \/><\/li><li>A number of prominent RW handles, including IT Cell in-charges of various BJP Units and several blue ticks handles with thousands of followers started posting in a coordinated manner about the Khalistan and farmers\u2019 protests in the same sentence, without giving any evidence.<br \/><\/li><li>Eventually, it was also lapped up by a segment of Indian media, which took the clue and started various debates on the issue, whether the Khalistanis have indeed penetrated the farmers&#8217; protests. These debates intentionally or unintentionally reinforced the association of Khalistan with the protests.<br \/><\/li><li>By November the chatter became so much, it was now impossible to distinguish what was pushed by design and how many people were participating in the discussions organically.<br \/><\/li><li>In a nutshell, the Khalistani\/Pakistani nexus, helped by the Indian RW managed to establish the fake narrative of Khalistani association with farmers protests. It is ironical that the IT cells of Pakistani ruling Party PTI and Indian ruling Party BJP were pursuing the same agenda on social media.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Stage I: Seeding the Conspiracy<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is no secret that there are some Khalistani elements abroad who are incessant with their propaganda and are claimed to be backed by the Pakistani establishment.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>To read the report, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macdonaldlaurier.ca\/mli-releases-khalistan-project-pakistan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click here!<\/a><\/em><br \/><br \/>The groups like Dal Khalsa (UK), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) are some of the prominent groups. These groups keep biting into every opportunity to garner Sikh supporters for their agenda, despite no support in Indian Punjab or in the Sikh diaspora. Nonetheless, the Farmers\u2019 Protest was yet another opportunity for them to escalate their game. Interestingly, whenever these Khalistani outfits start a campaign, they are supported by ISPR sponsored social media groups. This time again when Pannun started raking up the issue of Indian farmers, tweets started flooding from across the border. One of the major ISPR influencers Veena Malik <em>(@iVeenaKhan<\/em>) posted a fake photo about Khalistan.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Unemployment, drugs, and water-related issues have forced  Sikh farmers to commit suicide. Every Indian citizen must stand up for their brothers. They must demand a separate homeland through peaceful referendum. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Khalistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Khalistan<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/90vONrGllQ\">pic.twitter.com\/90vONrGllQ<\/a><\/p>&mdash; VEENA MALIK (@iVeenaKhan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iVeenaKhan\/status\/1294633444132245504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That it was not an innocent effort is proved by the&nbsp;fact that the said post was already debunked as Fake by several Fact Check platforms, such as <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thequint.com\/news\/webqoof\/old-pic-of-pro-khalistan-placard-falsely-linked-to-farmers-protest#read-more\" target=\"_blank\">The Quint<\/a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/thelogicalindian.com\/fact-check\/demand-of-khalistan-in-ongoing-farmers-protest-25252\" target=\"_blank\">The Logical Indian. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite being fake, the post got further push with 490 retweeted &amp; 46 quoted retweets (at the time of publishing), mostly by Pakistanis handles. It says a lot that most of the handles were also supporters of Imran Khan and his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The network attached below shows the details of the Twitter handles retweeting her:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/veena_malik_rt-gif.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-680\"\/><figcaption><em>You can view the interactive graph shown in the animation a<\/em>t <a href=\"https:\/\/disinfolab.github.io\/veena_malik_rt_network_new.html\">https:\/\/disinfolab.github.io\/veena_malik_rt_network_new.html<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(The size of the circles is in order of their number of followers) Link of the Graph:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below are some accounts of the <strong>PTI supporters <\/strong>supporting Veena Malik\u2019s fake claim:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-649\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Incentives-to-farmers-1024x430.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-588\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Stage II: Taking the Bait<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People like Pannun and Malik knew that their message is not going to the target audience, and yet they continued doing so with a hope that someone would take the bait. And someone did take the bait &#8211; Indian Right-Wing handles.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it is well-nigh impossible to establish whether it was an unintentional knee-jerk reaction by the RW or whether they saw an opportunity to malign the farmers protests, which is against the ruling BJP\u2019 policy, the narrative of terming the Farmers protest as Khalistani agenda thus begun.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RW handles were first to use Khalistan in context of Farmers\u2019 Protests.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initial reactions came from minor right-wingers who started sounding \u2018alarm bells\u2019 that \u201cKhalistanis are penetrating Farmers protests\u201d. They became hyperactive on the social media platforms and started posting abruptly, linking farmers\u2019 protests with Khalistan, buying into Khalistani and Pakistani propaganda.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After analyzing the accounts who initially started tweeting about the issue, it was found that they are right wing supporters. A sample analysis is shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Untitled-1-1024x243.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-668\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br \/>The Word Cloud of their posts and Sentiment Analysis gives an insight into the act and the motive behind these IT handles\u2019 posts. The WC shows the frequency of words used in their tweets, highlighting the two prominent words \u2013 Khalistan and Farmers Protests. Likewise, the Sentiment Analysis further confirms that all these posts portrayed the farmers\u2019 protests negatively by connecting them with Khalistan issue.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Right-wing-word-count-sentiment-analysis-1024x332.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-600\" width=\"791\" height=\"252\"\/><figcaption><em>Word Cloud (Left) &amp; Sentiment Analysis (right)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As noted above, this was the first time that Indian handles started mentioning Khalistan and Farmers protests in one sentence, and while they were still in small numbers, they proved to be the catalyst.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within a week, the talk of farmers protests started becoming mainstream (or was being made so by vested RWs to discredit farmers\u2019 protests). On 25<sup>th<\/sup> Sept a \u2018Journalist\u2019 with News X Channel Pradeep Yadav falsely claimed that a group of protesting farmers were chanting \u2018Khalistan Zindabad\u2019, whereas they were actually chanting <em>\u2018Kisan Ekta Zindabad\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"hi\" dir=\"ltr\">\u092f\u0947 \u0939\u0948 \u0939\u093f\u0902\u0926\u0941\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093f\u0938\u093e\u0928 , \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u0928\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0902 \u0928\u0947 \u0918\u0947\u0930\u0940 \u0938\u0948\u0928\u094d\u092f \u0905\u0927\u093f\u0915\u093e\u0930\u093f\u092f\u094b\u0902 \u0915\u0940 \u0917\u093e\u0921\u093c\u0940 , \u0935\u093e\u092a\u093f\u0938 \u092e\u0941\u0921\u093c\u0947 \u0938\u0947\u0928\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u091c\u0935\u093e\u0928 , \u0916\u093e\u0932\u093f\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928 \u091c\u093f\u0902\u0926\u093e\u092c\u093e\u0926 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u0917\u0947 \u0928\u093e\u0930\u0947,\u091c\u094b \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924 \u0915\u093e \u0916\u093e\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948 \u0914\u0930 \u0916\u093e\u0932\u093f\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u093e \u0917\u093e\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0948 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlkhattar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@mlkhattar<\/a>  \u091c\u0940 \u0907\u0928\u092a\u0947 \u0938\u0916\u094d\u0924 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u094d\u092f\u0935\u093e\u0939\u0940 \u0915\u0940 \u091c\u093e\u090f \u092f\u0947 \u0926\u0947\u0936 \u0915\u0947 \u0915\u093f\u0938\u093e\u0928 \u0928\u0939\u0940 \u0939\u094b \u0938\u0915\u0924\u0947<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/abbas_nighat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@abbas_nighat<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sambitswaraj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@sambitswaraj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dbZ28jecbI\">pic.twitter.com\/dbZ28jecbI<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Pradeep Yadav (@IMPRADEEPYADAV_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IMPRADEEPYADAV_\/status\/1309438340886790144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 25, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Stage III: Reaping the Harvest<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As soon as the false narrative of connecting Khalistani with farmers protest started spreading, Khalistani groups abroad such lapped up this false claim to show that there was some support of Khalistani agenda in India.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was also too tempting an opportunity for certain segments of Pakistani social media to let go, and they dropped further provocations to lure Right Wingers further deep into their propaganda. To reap the harvest, a fresh round of propaganda was started by Pakistani handles to reinforce the narrative that the Khalistani elements were part of farmers\u2019 protests.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veena Malik yet again became active, \u2018supporting the farmers\u2019 with two video messages back to back.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Agenda being pushed by Indian minion <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBCTerry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cbcterry<\/a> about the Khalistan movement is &#8211; &#39;FAKE&#39;! Sikhs want their Independence from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/India?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#India<\/a>. Remember that 150,000+ Sikhs gave their lives, now hundreds more are ready for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Khalistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Khalistan<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VeenaMalik?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VeenaMalik<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HFuBdQxTAB\">pic.twitter.com\/HFuBdQxTAB<\/a><\/p>&mdash; VEENA MALIK (@iVeenaKhan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iVeenaKhan\/status\/1315638944248270848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joining the false wagon, another Pakistani influencer, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) youth head Abdul Waheed Afridi also instigated the idea of Khalistan in the context of farmer\u2019s\u2019 protests.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Indeed <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Khalistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Khalistan<\/a> movement is a reality, the thousands victims of overpowered Hindutva extremists have made minorities lives miserable &amp; pushed them into the living hell. Muslims, Christians &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Sikhs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Sikhs<\/a> are the prime victims of RSS Nazi inspired terrorism. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/India?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#India<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VeenaMalik?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VeenaMalik<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KRu9DqDZbi\">pic.twitter.com\/KRu9DqDZbi<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Abdul Waheed Afridi \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 (@AbWaheedJI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbWaheedJI\/status\/1315716531767128070?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if one needed any further proof of coordinated campaign, the very next day SFJ incorporated her video on their YouTube channel &#8211; the first non-Sikh individual to get featured on SFJ\u2019s portal.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is important to note that till now, despite all their campaign, other than a handful of Indian RW handles, and no one had talked about Khalistan issue in the context of farmers\u2019 protests.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But soon, this was going to change. <br \/><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Stage IV: Swallowing the Propaganda \u2013 Hook, Line, and Sinker<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The engagement of Pakistani handles was enough to boil the saffron blood of Bhakts. By November, several prominent RW handles jumped into foray, calling the farmers protests as Khalistani, though not a single one bothered to provide an iota of evidence. Some of the prominent handles included:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Zeenat Rana, State Executive Member of BJP Chandigarh IT Cell.<\/li><li>Harshad Prajapati, in-charge of the IT &amp; Social Media of BJP, Mehsana.<\/li><li>Swapnil Kamal Rani Varun, former Cabinet Minister in UP (account is operated by family.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some cases, we found the exact same tweet posted on the same day by different accounts. This suggests a coordinated campaign on their part as well. The motive was clear that to demean the farmers and downplay their protests, causing them pain and anguish.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below, are the details of some of the profile: &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lll.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-688\"\/><figcaption>Pattern of retweets by the right-wing<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Based on our detailed analysis the below table lists several accounts with more than 10,000 followers who tweeted\/shared (retweeted) and amplified these tweets calling farmers Khalistanis. There was a total of 625 accounts who shared these tweets. <strong>(List)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table aligncenter\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Handle<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Location<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Followers<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@diptisingh7812<\/td><td>UK<\/td><td>45106<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@AjayPandey_<\/td><td>New Delhi, India<\/td><td>31585<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@kamalranivarun<\/td><td>Uttar Pradesh, India<\/td><td>29362<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@OmBishnoii<\/td><td>Jodhpur, India<\/td><td>25304<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@bhanusi24275819<\/td><td>Uttar Pradesh, India<\/td><td>19244<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@sandy5422096<\/td><td>\u092e\u0941\u091c\u092b\u094d\u092b\u0930\u092a\u0941\u0930, \u092c\u093f\u0939\u093e\u0930<\/td><td>19051<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@Suryavansi8888<\/td><td>\u0905\u0916\u0923\u094d\u0921\u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924<\/td><td>15399<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@indiaAnkita<\/td><td>\u0906\u0930\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0935\u0930\u094d\u0924<\/td><td>15286<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@SiddharthjainIT<\/td><td>Vidisha, India<\/td><td>14982<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@navin82upa<\/td><td>India<\/td><td>13849<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@Shrish_1987<\/td><td>\u092c\u0930\u0928\u093e\u091f\u0940\u0915\u0930, \u0917\u094c\u0930\u0940\u0917\u0902\u091c, \u0905\u092e\u0947\u0920\u0940<\/td><td>13365<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@ombrand2<\/td><td>Sikar, Rajasthan, India<\/td><td>12212<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>@rajkapoorbjym<\/td><td>India<\/td><td>10257<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The interactive graph below shows the accounts who shared (retweeted) the tweets calling the farmers Khalistani. The circles\/nodes in blue shows verified accounts. The size of the circles is according to the number of followers. (If you hover your mouse over any circle, you can see the account details like number of followers, following, when the account was created, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/farmers-Gif-Low-file-size-1.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-665\"\/><figcaption><em>You can view the interactive graph shown in the animation above at<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/disinfolab.github.io\/farmers_new.html\">https:\/\/disinfolab.github.io\/farmers_new.html<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By now the RW, either in its stupidity or with malign intention, had managed to bring Khalistan into the mainstream conversation. It was evident from the sheer number of debates that started taking place on the topic of farmers\u2019 protests and Khalistan.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By November, a segment of <em>\u2018responsible media\u2019 <\/em>jumped in and started a series of debates, intended to further confuse the narrative about farmers\u2019 protests and Khalistan, again without any proofs whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Some of the news debates and programs on the farmers protests:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Dfeb3jvocJ4\"><strong>Zee News:<\/strong> Taal Thok Ke: Farmers Protest \u092e\u0947\u0902 Khalistani &#8216;\u0918\u0941\u0938\u092a\u0948\u0920&#8217;? | TTK | Farmer protest against new farm laws<\/a> <br \/><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OQGOSZVK7-Q\">Zee:<\/a> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OQGOSZVK7-Q\"><strong>Farmers Protest:<\/strong> \u0915\u093f\u0938\u093e\u0928 \u0906\u0902\u0926\u094b\u0932\u0928 \u092e\u0947\u0902&#8217; \u0916\u093e\u0932\u093f\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928&#8217; \u0915\u0940\u090f\u0902\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0915\u0948\u0938\u0947?<\/a><br \/><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rXG5fRbBtk4\"><strong>Zee DNA:<\/strong> Farmers Protest \u0915\u094b Political Parties, Khalistanis \u0928\u0947 \u0915\u093f\u092f\u093e&#8217; \u0939\u093e\u0908-\u091c\u0948\u0915&#8217; | #AandolanMeinKhalistan<\/a><br \/><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L6oWOi4XE5E\"><strong>Zee DNA:<\/strong> \u0915\u0943\u0937\u093f \u0915\u093e\u0928\u0942\u0928 \u092a\u0930 \u0926\u0941\u0937\u094d\u092a\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u0930 Vs \u0938\u091a\u094d\u091a\u093e\u0908| Sudhir Chaudhary | Farmer Protest | Farm Law | Khalistan<\/a><br \/><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IR8Wq_-_CCI\"><strong>Zee<\/strong>: AK 47 \u0938\u0947 \u0906\u0902\u0926\u094b\u0932\u0928&#8217; \u0939\u093e\u0907\u091c\u0948\u0915&#8217;? | Farmers Protest Update | Khalistan | Shocking!<\/a><br \/><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L6oWOi4XE5E\"><strong>India Today:<\/strong> Farm Law Protests | Khalistan Shadow On Farmers&#8217; Stir?<\/a><br \/><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GoGZGczUR3U\"><strong>Aaj Tak:<\/strong> Farmers Protest \u092e\u0947\u0902 Pakistan \u0915\u094b \u0926\u093f\u0916\u093e \u0927\u0930\u094d\u092e, Khalistan Plan \u0939\u0941\u0906\u092c\u0947\u0928\u0915\u093e\u092c!<\/a> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><u>Flow Chart of the Events<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/199.188.206.157\/~disinfohgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Flow-Chart-of-the-Events.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-606\" width=\"602\" height=\"561\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Epilogue:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are various layers to this story and this is exactly how disinformation in the real world operates:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>There are Khalistanis and Pakistanis, trying to exploit the farmers\u2019 protests in India to suit their own agenda.<\/li><li>Then we have Right Wingers who without any evidence called the protesting farmers Khalistani. While the motive of the former is clear, whether the RW got played or was playing with a sinister agenda remains unclear.<\/li><li>The media similarly had played an equally problematic role. Some media outlets were too early to call protesting farmers Khalistani (without verifying properly) and eventually by using intriguing headlines just to manoeuvre TRP.<\/li><li>But most of all, it was the RW which either deliberately or foolishly pushed the narrative of Khalistan with farmers protests. While it was only natural for Khalistani and Pakistani handles to promote such narrative, the so-called \u2018bhakts\u2019 would take such bait is not only shocking but worrisome.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em><u>It is best of irony that most of the Pak handle promoting this narrative were PTI IT Cell, while the Indian handles involved were from BJP IT Cell.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did Indian Right Wing propagate Khalistani narrative regarding Farmers\u2019 Protest? During this chilly winter season, while we all are sitting at home, thousands of farmers are gathered outside Delhi borders to protest the new Farmer Bills. They are raising their voices against several provisions of the bills, including allowing direct role to corporates, and fear [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farmers-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedisinfolab.org\/wps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}