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    We, the people, & all that jazz

    Synopsis

    Last checked, the anti-Modi petition was running at 15,127 signatures and two pro-Modi petitions were at 232 and 762, respectively having come late into the game.

    By Seema Sirohi

    Both the Indian and the American Constitutions begin gloriously with the words: We, the people. There is much power in that simple declaration. All that jazz about government and laws – it is sourced from us.

    But what happens if we, the people, run with it and make trouble – some online trouble but trouble nonetheless? The White House had to scramble last week to curb some of these people.

    It all started when the online platform to petition the White House became a battlefield for pro and anti-India forces. The Obama whiz kids obviously didn’t anticipate this when they allowed online petitioning in a fit of transparency. The First Amendment always guaranteed the right to petition but the hard work of physically collecting signatures was replaced by keyboard activism.

    A quick salve of the conscience between cups of Starbucks and onward we march. You can petition the White House for just about anything – federal funds to remove graffiti from Chinatown in Oakland? Check. Advocate sanctions against South Africa for the “genocide of white farmers” (ahem)? Check. File a class-action suit against the US Congress? Check. You can feel the heat of Gaza from your air-conditioned suburban home or berate your government for not saving the Yazidis.

    It is a living, breathing dance of democracy. But it became a tandav of sorts for the Indian government when it was discovered the forum was being used to petition the White House to cancel Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. It cited the anti-Muslim violence in 2002 as the main reason. Broadening its net, it also demanded a ban on the BJP for instigating an attack in the Golden Temple in 1984. Overreach?

    Even though one can safely assume the White House is not going to do as directed for reasons too obvious and many to list, the petition by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a New York-based organisation that describes itself as a human rights advocacy group, is a PR headache. Indian officials say it is partly orchestrated by the ISI, which maintains links with pro-Khalistani elements in the US.

    But your counter-intelligence rupees are at work. As are Modi supporters who watched in alarm as signatures rocketed to169,000 (the White House responds if a petition gets 100,000 signatures within 30 days). They noted that on a particularly productive night nearly 5,000 signatures were added when most of America was asleep.

    Something fishy? Most certainly. To counter, the Indian community started a counter petition “welcoming” Modi and asked the White House to check the other one for fraud. The experts looked in and, shall we say, they found plenty of “black in the daal.” The White House removed 85,000 signatures because they “violated” the terms of participation.

     
    Last checked, the anti-Modi petition was running at 15,127 signatures and two pro-Modi petitions were at 232 and 762, respectively having come late into the game. The battle is on even though one of the combatants has lost its cloak of authenticity.

    But the man who runs Sikhs For Justice is undeterred. Gurpatwant Singh Punnan, a naturalised Sikh American, is cagey about his personal history but adamant about lighting mini fires under India’s leadership. From the comfort of Manhattan – the organisation’s address is listed as the Empire State Building, no less – he rakes up horrific parts of India’s history and generates lawsuits. The levers of the American judicial system are ever handy and the tag of “human rights” opens many doors. When the UPA was in power, SFJ filed cases against Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Kamal Nath and the entire Indian National Congress for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The cases didn’t go very far except create some excitement in the pro-Khalistani community.

    Come to think of it, ISI hasn’t had real success in its anti-India activities. Its biggest humiliation was when its storefront on Kashmir collapsed. The Kashmiri American Council, once embraced by opportunistic US Congressmen for campaign funds and gullible Indian academics for junkets abroad, lies discredited. An FBI investigation in 2011 revealed the organisation had illegally received $3.5 million from the ISI to lobby the US Congress. Similar questions are now being asked about SFJ. Many Sikh groups stay away from SFJ and its tactics for good reason.



    The writer is a Washington-based analyst
    The Economic Times

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