India blocks Austrian economist’s X account over ‘dismantle India’ post

India is now a hostile state to [the] Free World, says Fehlinger

Monitoring Desk

NEW DELHI: Authorities in India banned the X account of an Austrian economist after he shared a map showing Khalistan having been carved out of India and called for “dismantling India”, the local media reported on Friday.
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking an independent state for the religious minority carved out of Indian territory. It is considered a security threat by the Indian government.
The economist, Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn, appeared to be calling for the creation of Khalistan in his post on X, stating: “I call to dismantle India into Ex India. Narendra Modi is Russia’s man. We need friend of freedom for @KhalistanNet.”
The map also seemed to be implying the separation of various other regions of India.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology “flagged the viral post and directed X to withhold access to the account for Indian users. The account has since been disabled in India”.
The report added that the post resulted in “angry reactions” on social media.
The post came after Modi met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China earlier this week.
Sharing a picture of their interaction in another post on Monday, Fehlinger-Jahn stated: “I call for Ex India. India is now a hostile state to [the] Free World. We must boycott India now! … No Visa for Indians as long as Putin’s friend Narendra Modi stays in power.”
Fehlinger -Jahn, as per his X and Linkedin, poses as the chairman for an “Austrian committee” the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).