Mo Dhaliwal along with organization Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF)  is accused of being involved in an alleged international conspiracy to divide India. It was reported Monday that Delhi Police has written to video conferencing platform Zoom seeking details of those who participated in the January 11 meeting organised allegedly by a pro-Khalistani group to prepare a protest “toolkit” backing the farmers’ agitation. “Pro-Khalistan group Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) founder Mo Dhaliwal had contacted them (Jacob and Shantanu) through a Canada-based woman named Punit,” claimed Joint Commissioner of Police (cyber) Prem Nath. Both Dhaliwal and Lal said the information being spread about their organisation “is in many cases incorrect and, too often, entirely invented”.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada 

With News Files

VANCOUVER – Sometimes the experience of Canadian democracy including making “Khalistani” speeches in front of the Indian consulate offices in downtown Vancouver doesn’t translate well with an oppressive state like India, which has it’s own demented views of what constitutes freedom of speech.

That’s precisely the scenario involving Indo-Canadian activist Mo Dhaliwal, formerly the man behind VIBC’s annual Bhangra celebration, who thought he was making a peaceful case for Khalistan or the Sikh state sought by many Sikhs when he spoke as part of a demonstration in front of the Indian consulate last month.

But little did he know that he would be thrown into the Delhi police’s wacky Greta Thunberg “Toolkit” conspiracy that has already landed Indian activist Disha Ravi in jail and the oppressive Indian state police machinery is going after more domestic activists as well as foreign-based human rights activists. 

It was reported Monday that Delhi Police has written to video conferencing platform Zoom seeking details of those who participated in the January 11 meeting organised allegedly by a pro-Khalistani group to prepare a protest “toolkit” backing the farmers’ agitation.

Police alleged that Mumbai lawyer Nikita Jacob and Pune engineer Shantanu were among the around 70 people who had attended the meeting through Zoom app, days before the Republic Day violence in the national capital that leftover 500 police personnel injured and one protester dead.

“The Delhi Police has written to video conferencing app Zoom seeking details of participants who attended the meeting on January 11,” the official said.

On Monday, Joint Commissioner of Police (cyber) Prem Nath had alleged that the e-mail account created by Shantanu is the owner of this Google document.

“Pro-Khalistani group Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) founder Mo Dhaliwal had contacted them (Jacob and Shantanu) through a Canada-based woman named Punit,” Nath claimed.

 “Nikita and Shantanu had on January 11 attended a Zoom meeting organized by PFJ in which modalities were decided to create the ‘toolkit’ titled ‘Global Farmer Strike’ and ‘Global Day of Action, 26 January’,” Nath said told PTI

Indian police is doing what many oppressive regimes do – manufacturing nonsensical theories to make cases against people who are exercising their free speech. 

Numerous Indian legal experts have already said that the “Toolkit” has nothing on violence or incitement and is not seditious.

 “I have gone through the documents of the 'Toolkit' and there is nothing which says anything with regard to violence or inciting people,” says former Supreme Court judge Deepak Gupta, on the arrest of 22-year-old activist Disha Ravi.

Dhaliwal and fellow activist Anita Lal founded Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) has said on record that neither coordinated any protest activities within India nor coordinated with Rihanna, Greta Thunberg or any other celebrity to tweet.

Both Dhaliwal and Lal said the information being spread about their organisation “is in many cases incorrect and, too often, entirely invented”. They said that it was a “concerted effort and a purposeful distraction” from the story about over 200 lives lost in the farmers protest.

 “The complex and absurd conspiracies being constructed to link Poetic Justice Foundation to any number of actors worldwide are entirely fiction. Poetic Justice Foundation did not coordinate any protest activities occurring within India. Up to India’s Republic Day and beyond — whether at Red Fort in Delhi or elsewhere in the country — we were not involved in directing or fomenting any protest activity of any sort within India,” they said.

“Poetic Justice Foundation did not coordinate Rihanna, Greta Thunberg or any number of specific celebrities to tweet about the #FarmersProtest. We didn’t pay anyone to tweet — and certainly didn’t pay anyone $2.5million to do so.” The statement added: “However, we did generally encourage the entire world to share this issue. Through the international collective of organizers we encouraged the world to pay attention and amplify this message.” “We were drawn to the farmers protest due to our connection and love for our people... After watching that how protesters and journalists were being treated, we decided to do what is quite normal in a functioning democracy and connected with like-minded people,” a statement from PJF said.

“I’m told by my relatives in India that I’m on every channel and it’s just been constant,” Dhaliwal told Global News. “There are TV debates and entire panel conversations trying to uncover this really convoluted conspiracy that we are behind the Republic Day protests in India. It’s pretty incredible.”

Mo Dhaliwal is accused of being involved in an alleged international conspiracy to divide India.

 “They’re drawing incredibly huge conspiracy theories right down to accusing us of personally paying Rihanna $2.5 million for a tweet, which is ridiculous and not even worthy of any sort of rebuttal,” Dhaliwal told Global News.

The attention may also stem from his speech outside the Indian consulate in downtown Vancouver on Jan. 26, when tensions and fears about possible bloodshed in India were heightened after clashes between police and farmers broke out in the country’s capital.

At the solidarity rally in Vancouver that day, Dhaliwal spoke about Khalistan, a push for an independent state in northern India that peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, and has since been relatively dormant. He said he brought up the divisive subject to recognize everyone’s right to be a part of the demonstration after some protesters tried to shun Khalistan supporters, reported Global News.

Dhaliwal said his message about freedom of expression has been taken dangerously far out of context.

“It’s hard not to be nervous when you’re getting phone calls and death threats from local numbers,” he told Global News.

He said hundreds of messages, including images of dead Sikhs, are flooding his inboxes. The born-and-bred Canadian has many connections with friends, family and farming in India. He now wonders if he’ll ever be able to safely go back there again.