On Friday, June 3, Baptist minister Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr took to Twitter to slam anti-Hindu activist Peter Friedrich for allegedly making objectionable remarks against U.S. Representative from Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi.
In a series of tweets, the former Democratic leader said: “The days when people like Friedrich threatened non-white people, especially because of the color of their skin, their religious affiliation or their country of origin must stay behind us. ”
“To put it bluntly: saying ‘Nazis out, Raja must go’ and ‘Death to Krishnamoorthi’ is racist, bigoted and inflammatory rhetoric that does not belong in our political or civic discourse,” he added. .
The Baptist minister condemned the bigoted rhetoric of Peter Friedrich and his accomplice Junaid Ahmed, who is stand for election to represent Illinois’ 8th congressional district.
“In the strongest possible terms, I urge all election candidates to use your platform to unite us, not divide us, and to refrain from using hate as a way to score good political points. market,” concluded the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr.
The context of the controversy
The case came to light after the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) alleged that Pieter Friedrich shouted “Death to Raja Krishnamoorthi” outside the US Representative’s office. In a video shared by HAF, Friedrich could be heard singing “RSS Murdabad” and “Krishnamoorthi Murdabad”.
#Rupture: Last night during an election debate, @CongressmanRaja reported that Pieter Friedrich, a sleazy agent known for his anti-Hindu activism, stood outside his office and shouted “Death to Raja Krishnamoorthi”.
Today Friedrich shares the video and repeats the threat in Urdu. pic.twitter.com/vcjkg9GhyS
— American Hindu Foundation (@HinduAmerican) June 3, 2022
The HAF called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Capitol Police to take notice of the threats. “Friedrich has well-known links to a terrorist movement in India highlighted in this article and his repetition of ‘Murdabad’ (died to) in this context, cannot be considered a joke,” the Hindu advocacy group stressed.
He called on the Democratic Party to take note of Hinduphobic tropes, which smear the political participation of hard-working American Hindus.
We request @Democrats be aware that activism against @CongressmanRaja is repeated against other Hindu candidates, and these Hinduphobic tropes of dual loyalties and defamation of the political participation of many hard-working American Hindus, because somehow suspicious or foreign-funded, are dangerous
— American Hindu Foundation (@HinduAmerican) June 3, 2022
In his defence, the known anti-Hindu activist claimed that he never chanted “Death to Krishnamoorthi”. “I have never done this and I challenge you to prove otherwise,” he tweeted while sharing a video of Raja Krishnamoorthi.
In the video, the US Representative for Illinois’ 8th Congressional District accused Pieter Friedrich of shouting slogans against him outside his home, including shouting “Death to Krishnamoorthi”.
@CongressmanRajaplease publicly retract and apologize immediately for your slander, or you risk being sued for defamation.
— Pieter Friedrich (@FriedrichPieter) June 3, 2022
While threatening the Hindu politician with defamation, he tweeted: “Raja Krishnamoorthi, please publicly retract and apologize immediately for your slander or you risk facing legal consequences for defamation.”
The pro-Khalistan background of Pieter Friedrich
Last year, Opindia reported how Pieter Friedrich went from a supporter of “constitutional republican Christian theocracy” to a critic of “Hindu fascism”. Until 2007 he was a militant Christian missionary and the majority of his early work was based on pro-life Christian activism.
Subsequently, he became a close associate of Bhajan Bhinder, a Khalistani ISI manager. According to a 2003 report in East Bay ExpressBhinder and his accomplice Gurtej Singh met an undercover agent posing as an arms dealer to purchase assault weapons and shoulder-fired missiles for the Free Khalistan movement.
The report added: “Bhinder reportedly said the weapons would be going by yacht to Pakistan. They would then travel overland by truck to India, where members of the Free Khalistan movement would receive them. Bhinder, according to the statement, would pay half of the money when he received the weapons and the other half when the shipment arrived in India.
Pieter has been on the radar of Indian security agencies since 2006, when his connection to ISI agent Bhajan Singh Bhinder came to light. Around 2007, Pieter also went by another name, Pieter Flanigan.
Under this name, Pieter ran Gandhism.net, an anti-Gandhi website created to denigrate Mahatma Gandhi and his ideologies. The purpose of this website was clear. This was to cast an overwhelmingly negative light on Gandhi, with accusations of racism and pedophilia thrown at the Mahatma in every column on the website.
From 2015 to 2019, numerous articles by Pieter Friedrich on online news media websites such as thecitizen.com, velivada.com, sabrangindia.in, clarionindia.net, etc. have been published. This was a coordinated effort to bolster Friedrich’s credibility in India as an “expert”. Prior to this period, the primary focus of Friedrich’s operations was in the United States.
This period was critical and necessary for Friedrich to establish his credibility as a “South Asian expert”.
