Vice president of George Soros founded Open Society Foundation was part of Bharat Jodo Yatra, anti-CAA protests and farmer protests: Read details

Earlier today, Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros made certain comments which proved what was already being speculated by many in India, his hand behind short-seller Hindenburg’s report on the Adani group that resulted in the stocks of the group crashing in the market. Soros, who has openly declared his intention to remove nationalist governments from power, including the Narendra Modi government in India, said that while PM Modi is silent on the issue, he will have to answer questions from foreign investors and the parliament.

“This will significantly weaken Modi’s stranglehold on India’s federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms. I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India,” George Soros said reading from a prepared statement in the video.

He also made a bizarre claim that the Adani group tried to raise funds in the stock market, but failed. The fact is that the ₹20,000 crore follow-on public offering (FPO) of Adani Enterprises was fully subscribed, but the company chose to withdraw the offer and refund the money to the investors after the controversy around the Hindenburg report. Therefore, Adani group had successfully raised funds in the stock market, and it chose to return that money.

Soros also said that while India is a democracy, PM Narendra Modi is not a democrat, and he expects a democratic revival in India. With this, he made it clear that he wants to see a regime change India. While Narendra Modi has come back to power winning an election, Soros does not consider Modi to be a democratically elected PM because Modi does not subscribe to his leftist ideology.

This stand of George Soros has strange similarities with the claims by the opposition in India, particularly the Congress party. Congress has been claiming that PM Modi has been assaulting on democracy and destroying institutions. George Soros made exactly the same claims in his comments.

However, it does not end here, the ties between Congress and Soros go deeper, who is widely known for his anti-India views. On 31 October 2022, a person named Salil Shetty joined Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Harthikote in Karnataka. Salil Shetty is the global vice president of Open Society Foundations founded by George Soros. In its regular update on the Yatra on its website, Congress wrote, “Yatris commenced their journey from Harthikote this morning. Walking alongside Shri Gandhi, among others, were two social and human rights activists. Salil Shetty, previous Secretary General of Amnesty International. Also, Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, an organisation known for its work in helping bring about the ‘Right to Information Act’.”

Visuals of Salil Shetty with Rahul Gandhi during the yatra were shared by BJP leaders and netizens after the Congress party sought to distance itself from the comments of Soros.

Before becoming VP of Open Society Foundation, Shetty was secretary general of Amnesty International, another left-wing organisation known for its anti-India activities. Shetty’s involvement in India does not end with Bharat Jodo Yatra, earlier he was seen in several events against the Modi government.

Popular Twitter account @BefittingFacts has unearthed that from anti-CAA protests to farmer protests, Shetty was at the forefront everywhere.

In 2020, Salil Shetty was actively involved in the anti-CAA protests various places across the country, including Bengaluru and Delhi. He had posted several tweets from his Twitter account, showing him participating and addressing various protest events against the CAA.

He also regularly tweeted against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and when the CAA was notified by govt of India, he had said, “We will never allow #India to be divided by the Hindutva fundamentalists. We will unmask them.”

Salil Shetty was seen addressing the protesters at the infamous Shaheen Bagh protest site, where the anti-CAA protesters had blocked a major road in Delhi for several months, which eventually led to the anti-Hindu riots in the national capital in 2020.

After anti-CAA protests, came the farmer protests at the borders of Delhi, and Salil Shetty was seen there also. On 7 February 2021, he posted video of his joining the protests against the three farm laws at the Singhu border. He had tweeted, “Honoured to convey our solidarity to #FarmersProtests in #Singu border, #India. Truly inspired by the determination & sacrifice of the farmers – they are not alone.”

In December 2020, he had said that the farmers protest is a mother of all protests and “abhi to party shuru hui hai” (the party has just begun), celebrating that people were protesting against Modi govt for trying to bring reforms to the farm sector.

Salil Shetty of Open Society Foundation does not limit himself to participating in anti-BJP govt protests only, he also claimed that India’s vaccination drive against Covid-19 was a failure.

Just like other liberals, he had also batted for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, despite their high cost, after criticising the pricing of India made vaccines at private hospitals. He had called the Indian government’s stand that foreign vaccines must undergo trials in India as “foolish arrogance from the regime in a crisis.”

When Arvind Kejriwal had falsely claimed that Pfizer and Moderna agreed to sell their vaccines directly to Delhi govt, Shetty called it a mess and suggested that the Modi govt should not get away scot free for not allowing the American vaccines in India.

He also didn’t stop attacking the Modi government alleging that the govt is ‘anti-democracy’ even during the pandemic. Talking to CNN, he had said, “There are two viruses in this country – one is a coronavirus and the other is an anti-democracy virus. There is vaccine only for one.”

The Twitter timeline of Salil Shetty is filled with anti-Narendra Modi and anti-BJP tweets, making his political stand clear. And such such a person is the vice president of the primary organisation George Soros.

(No changes have been made to this article which first appeared in OpIndia on February 17, 2023)