NEW DELHI– The Indian government on Friday ordered the blocking of Austrian economist Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn’s account on X after he posted a controversial message calling for the “dismantling” of India.
The post, which quickly went viral through screenshots, displayed a distorted map portraying parts of Indian territory as belonging to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Khalistan. Alongside the image, Fehlinger-Jahn wrote: “I call to dismantle India into ExIndia. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Russia’s man. We need friends of freedom for Khalistan.”
The remarks sparked widespread outrage across social media and drew condemnation from political leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi questioned why India should tolerate such propaganda, urging the Ministry of External Affairs to raise the matter with the Austrian Embassy.
Following a government review, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology directed X to withhold Fehlinger-Jahn’s account in India. The account has since been disabled for users in the country.
Fehlinger-Jahn is the president of the Austrian Committee for NATO Membership of Ukraine, Kosovo, Bosnia and Austria, and sits on the board of the Action Group for Regional Economic Integration of the Southern Balkans.
The controversy reignited scrutiny of his earlier posts on India. A 2023 tweet in which he endorsed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as India’s next prime minister resurfaced online, as did previous attacks on Prime Minister Modi accusing him of being aligned with China and Russia.
The episode comes just months after Modi’s historic visit to Austria in July 2024 — the first by an Indian prime minister in 41 years — which coincided with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. (Source: IANS)
