Anti-Modi, Sitharaman ad in WSJ ruffles feathers; blame on former Devas CEO
A full-page advertisement in leading US newspaper Wall Street Journal, calling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and 10 senior government officials as those “who make India an unsafe place to invest,” has ruffled feathers in India.
Sitharaman was in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank when WSJ carried the ad on Saturday. The Finance Minister was in Washington from October 11 to 16.
Apart from Sitharaman, the ad features Antrix chairman Rakesh Sasibhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General N Venkatraman, Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian of the Supreme Court, CBI DSP Ashish Pareek, ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Deputy Director A Sadiq Mohamed Naijnar, and Assistant Director R Rajesh, and special judge Chandra Shekhar.
Shameful weaponisation of American media by fraudsters.
This shockingly vile ad targeting #India and its Government appeared in @WSJ .
Do you know who is behind this and similar ads?
This ad campaign is being run by fugitive Ramachandra Vishwanathan, who was the CEO of Devas.
n1 pic.twitter.com/o7EWFmMsSR— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) October 15, 2022
Who is behind the ad?
Calling them “Modi’s Magitsky 11,” the advertisement says, “These Modi Government officials have decimated the rule of law by weaponizing the institutions of the state to settle scores with political and business rivals, making India unsafe for investors.”
“We have asked the US government to impose economic and visa sanctions against them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Under Modi, a decline in the rule of law has made India a dangerous place to invest. If you are an investor in India, you might be next,” the ad goes on.
At the bottom of the page is a QR code that leads to a website of the US-based Frontiers of Freedom (FF). US Senator Malcolm Wallop founded the FF in 1995. It is currently headed by George Landrith.
Also read: Investors fight for compensation as govt says Devas-Antrix deal is ‘fraud on India’
On its website, the organisation calls itself “an educational foundation” that promotes the principles of “individual freedom, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, free markets, and traditional American values.”
Blame on former Devas CEO
Senior advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta, alleged that Ramachandran Viswanathan, the former CEO of Devas Multimedia, was running the campaign.
In September, a special court in Bengaluru allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to declare Viswanathan as a “fugitive economic offender” in connection with a money-laundering case.
Also read: What’s latest in Devas-Antrix case and what does it mean for India?
In 2011, the government cancelled the company’s contract for developing wireless broadband. In May 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal liquidated the Bengaluru-based start-up. A case was filed against the US-based Viswanathan and nine others for allegedly diverting 85 per cent of foreign investment worth Rs 529 crore. They had received the amount in a 2005 satellite deal with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
FF’s petition
In August, the FF filed a petition on behalf of Viswanathan and Devas Multimedia America Inc. under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. This law authorises the US President to impose economic sanctions and deny entry into the country to any foreigner identified as engaging in human rights abuse or corruption.
The petition seeks “redressal of blatant abuses of authority by Indian officials who have wrongfully used India’s criminal investigation agencies and courts in a campaign to circumvent liability over a contract dispute.”
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FF president George Landrith tweeted the advertisement in WSJ, followed by another tweet: “The actions of IndiasMagnitsky11, NSitharaman, NarendraModi & BJP4India send a clear message to potential investors in India: India is a dangerous place to invest!”
(With agency inputs)
