After Nikita, Disha and Shantanu, the new name which has been taken up by the Delhi police in the 'Toolkit' accidentally shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg is of Pieter Friedrich. His name was mentioned in the 'who to be followed section' of Toolkit, which was created to influence the ongoing farmers' protest in India, the police said.
The Toolkit, which is now being probed by the police, lists a detailed action plan to amplify farmers' protests by disseminating "fake news" about farm laws and creating a Twitter storm on Republic Day in connection with some foreign-based pro-Khalistani organizations.
In company of Khalistani elements
During a press conference on Monday, DCP (Cyber Cell) Manishi Chandra said Friedrich is an "active proponent of Khalistan" and has been on the radar of security agencies since 2006 after he was noticed in the company Bhajan Singh Bhinder alias Iqbal Choudhury, a known Khalistani.
It has been said that Friedrich is a crucial resource person behind the escalation of violence during the 26th January farmers' protest in the national capital. As per media watchdog, the Disinfolab reports, this person is also associated with the K2 or the Kashmir-Khalistan movement and has been involved in terror-related activities with the help of Pakistan's secret agency ISI.
"Pieter was part of a story we were already working on since about a month in the context of info-war against India," the Disinfolab report said further.
According to information with the police, who are still investigating the matter, Friedrich has been found to be currently residing in Malaysia and completing a research project on fascism. Some say he had also been one among the protesters who had vandalized Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the state park of California late last month.
Friedrich was one among the nearly 70 people who attended the zoom meeting of which Nikita was also a participant, days before the Republic Day violence that left over 500 police personnel injured and one protester dead.
Why his name was included in the 'toolkit'
Even though the police are still probing for more evidence as to why Friedrich's name was mentioned in the 'toolkit' document, his regular posts on social media handles indicate his anti-India stance. "Experte für Südasien-Angelegenheiten (Expert in South Asia affairs). I believe in bold, factual, aggressive and adversarial journalism," reads his bio on Twitter which he joined in October 2018.
"If you're on Twitter in India, and you post against RSS, BJP, or Modi, you might be targeted. That's a reality. What do you do with it? Make your account private? Delete it? Keep going?" reads one of Friedrich's widely shared tweets.
Meanwhile in recent days, Friedrich's tweets have been in support of Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi who has been arrested in connection with the 'toolkit' case.
As mentioned in his website, Friedrich is an author, activist, speaker and traveller, specializing in the analysis of historical and current affairs in South Asia. Last year he published a book highly critical of the BJP leadership.
The police hope that Disha and her associates Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, who are believed to be the creators of the 'toolkit', would be able to shed some light on Friedrich's role in the ongoing farmers' agitation.
