Washington D.C, The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has expressed serious concern following a Washington Post investigation that revealed extensive disinformation campaigns conducted by The Disinfo Lab, an India-based group. These campaigns reportedly target U.S. government figures, researchers, humanitarian groups, and Indian American rights activists and organizations.

According to Kashmir Media Service, The Disinfo Lab has been implicated in actions against a variety of groups and individuals, including IAMC, Hindus for Human Rights (HFHR), Congresswoman Pramiya Jayapal, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Equality Labs. IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed stated, “The Washington Post’s findings should be a wakeup call: the Indian government wants to silence critical voices here, in India, and anywhere else where democratic freedoms come into conflict with their domineering aspirations.”

Ahmed highlighted various alleged actions by the Indian government, from assassination attempts to organized intimidation campaigns targeting foreign academics and journalists, and censorship of social media accounts belonging to IAMC and HFHR. He pointed to these incidents as evidence of an escalating campaign of transnational repression aimed at stifling dissent.

IAMC President Mohammed Jawad called for decisive action from U.S. officials to prevent further intrusions into the U.S. political sphere by the Indian government or its proxies.

The IAMC has urged U.S. agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, to initiate investigations into Disinfo Lab and other campaigns reportedly run by Indian intelligence. They also called for the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate HinduPACT, Hindu Action, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America for possible collusion with the Indian government’s transnational repression campaign.

The Washington Post’s report, citing former employees, identifies Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency, as a key figure behind Disinfo Lab. The report alleges that Disinfo Lab, with a team based in New Delhi, has conducted smear campaigns with the support of U.S.-based Hindu nationalist organizations. These groups have reportedly disseminated fabricated reports in Congress and the California legislature.

Disinfo Lab’s propaganda has been extensively promoted on social media by senior officials in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as U.S.-based Hindu nationalist organizations like HinduPact and Hindu Action. These offshoots of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America have actively distributed Disinfo Lab reports in various U.S. political venues, including the 2022 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C.