People like Salman Khurshid and Rakesh Tikait seem to be speaking of a Bangladesh-like situation.
Senior politician and renowned lawyer Salman Khurshid, who has received legal education not only in India but also abroad, recently made some concerning statements. Similarly, Rakesh Tikait, a leader known for his aggressive politics in the name of farmers in Western Uttar Pradesh, claims to have earned an LLB degree from Meerut University. Should we not take such leaders’ statements seriously?
Recently, Rakesh Tikait made a statement that “The situation in India is going to be like that of Bangladesh.” He claimed that just as all Opposition leaders were imprisoned during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule in Bangladesh, the same is happening in India. Here too, Opposition leaders are being jailed. There is a lot of anger among the people about this and that soon the same fate as Hasina’s will befall the Central government. “They will not be found.” While talking to the media, Tikait went as far as to threaten, “When we took tractors towards the Red Fort during the farmers’ movement, if we had headed towards Parliament, the entire issue would have been resolved that very day. We were 2.5 million people at the time. We made a mistake then, but we will correct that mistake soon. We are fully prepared to deal with them.”
A few days earlier, Congress leader Salman Khurshid stated at an event, “On the surface, everything may seem normal, but what is happening in Bangladesh can happen in India as well.” Khurshid is a member of the Congress Working Committee and a close advisor to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. He began his political career in 1981 as an Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister. He has contested elections and served as Deputy Minister of Commerce, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Minority Affairs. Khurshid is the son of former Union Minister Khurshid Alam Khan and the grandson of India’s third President, Zakir Husain. He traces his lineage on both paternal and maternal sides to the Pathan community, linking his ancestry to the Afridi and Khesgi tribes of Afghanistan. Therefore, he likely understands the situations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan better than ordinary people. While some Congress spokespersons may dismiss these statements as personal opinions, it is noteworthy that Jairam Ramesh, Rahul Gandhi’s key advisor, and the party’s chief spokesperson, endorsed Tikait’s earlier threat in a tweet on October 31, 2021, stating, “The entire country looks up to Rakesh Tikait ji with great hope. Indians are looking up to you with high hopes.” He was endorsing Tikait’s statement where he threatened that if the protesting farmers were forcibly removed from Delhi’s borders, they would turn government offices across the country into grain markets.
Given this context, it should not come as a surprise if the threats from Congress leaders and Tikait before Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir elections are considered dangerous anarchist acts and criminal offences under India’s legal system. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused the CIA of conspiring to overthrow her government. Salman Khurshid and other Congress leaders might know that at one time, Indira Gandhi and then Congress president, Shankar Dayal Sharma continuously expressed concern over the CIA’s anti-India conspiracies. During the war with Pakistan, the US even sent the Seventh Fleet against India. Anti-Indira movements and foreign support and funding for pro-Khalistan terrorists have also come to light in the past.
Rakesh Tikait served in the Delhi Police for two years before joining the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). In 2018, Tikait led the Kisan Kranti Yatra from Haridwar, Uttarakhand to Delhi. In the 2007 UP Assembly elections, he contested from the Khatauli seat as a candidate of the Bahujan Kisan Dal (BKD) party (supported by Congress) but came sixth. In the 2014 general elections, he contested from the Amroha Lok Sabha constituency on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket, but was soundly defeated. His hunger for power cannot be denied. Rakesh Tikait, who emerged as a leader of farmers protesting against the Central government’s farm laws, and stood as a Khap leader for wrestlers’ rights, is also considered to be materially prosperous.
In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, BJP MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar has demanded action against Rakesh Tikait under the National Security Act. Gurjar wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, alleging that during Republic Day, Tikait, along with separatists and Khalistan supporters, insulted the Indian National Flag by replacing it with a Khalistani flag at the Red Fort. Gurjar also accused Tikait of speaking as a spokesperson for Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, and anti-national forces residing in Delhi-NCR, who have previously revealed their anti-national intentions. He emphasized that foreign funding is behind this, and a high-level investigation is necessary. Meanwhile, the renowned lawyer and author of a book on the new penal code, Ashwini Dubey, stated in an interview that such statements could be considered acts of sedition under Section 152 of the penal code and are punishable by law.
Another significant point is that George Soros, a billionaire connected to the US deep state, had announced a $100 billion fund to overthrow nationalist governments worldwide, and made extensive efforts to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from coming to power during the Lok Sabha elections, though he failed. Rahul Gandhi condemned the attack on Donald Trump in the US but incited people in India. When a shoe was thrown at PM Modi’s convoy in Varanasi, he justified it by saying, “Now no one in the country is afraid of Narendra Modi.”
Some time ago, the Central government made a significant accusation against an NGO, “Environics Trust,” before the Supreme Court. The government alleged that this NGO used foreign funding to halt development projects in India. The NGO receives 90% of its funds from foreign sources and has staged protests against coal, steel, and thermal power projects. The government argued that due to the misuse of foreign funds for purposes other than the declared objectives, the NGO’s permission to receive foreign funds under FCRA and its tax-exempt status was revoked. The Income Tax Department said that the Trust financed protests against development projects in Odisha under the guise of distributing relief packages to households. The Trust allegedly transferred Rs 1,250 per person to individuals named in the FIR related to the protests. WhatsApp chats obtained as evidence indicated that the Trust’s managing trustee, Sridhar Ramamurthy, informed Prashant Paikray of the “Resistance Sangram Committee” about the transfer of Rs 1,250 per person to 711 people from the Trust’s bank account, admitting that the Trust works with foreign entities like “Fair Green and Global Alliance,” which includes six Dutch member organizations.
The IT department stated that Jo Woodman and Sridhar, the Trust’s managing trustee, were involved in conspiring against coal plants in India and planning to harm these projects with the help of some foreign citizens and organizations. The department further stated that the Trust was opposing thermal power projects in India in collaboration with European climate change organizations. These organizations have close ties, and their key individuals are interconnected.
Therefore, in the coming months, everyone must remain vigilant against movements and conspiracies in various states.