New Delhi: After the latest documentary by ABC News has “uncovered” the alleged targeting of the Indian diaspora in Australia by Indian intelligence agents, the Australian government said it is deeply concerned by the allegations.
“Australia values diversity and inclusion, where people should be safe and free to express who they are, including their faith and heritage. We do not tolerate violence or threats of violence. Australia’s foreign interference laws are unequivocal,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
The documentary, which is part of ABC TV’s long-running show called Four Corners, brings to the fore accounts of several members of the Indian diaspora community in Australia who have allegedly been targeted by Indian spy agents. The documentary is titled ‘Infiltrating Australia – India’s Secret War’.
Most of the persons who have been at the receiving end are members of the Sikh community who have been working for the cause of the separatist Khalistani movement and critics of the Narendra Modi government.
Some of the Sikh community members featured in the documentary accused Indian authorities of visiting their families in India to threaten them due to the activism of their loved ones in Australia. Two Australians of Indian origin shared with Four Corners’ investigative team of journalists that they were detained in India and were questioned after accusations emerged of their involvement in the Khalistan movement – one of them even said he was stopped from returning to Sydney for several days.
Another man said that he had received calls from an Indian intelligence officer while in Australia. Similarly, another man claimed he was slapped with criminal charges in India when he did not stop his Sikh activism in Australia. He said he was eventually granted a personal protection visa because the Australian government deemed his life would be in danger if he returned to India.
Due to threats from Indian intelligence authorities, some of the participants in the political activism for the cause of Khalistan have taken a step back. Some have refrained from speaking out openly about the threats fearing for the safety of their family, ABC News said.
Citing senior officials in the Australian intelligence wing, ABC News said, “Indian intelligence officers were trying to gain access to sensitive defence technology and airport security protocols. They were targeting former and current politicians as well as a state police service. Crucially, they were also accused of monitoring the Indian Australian community.”
The documentary refers to the 2021 statement of Australia’s intelligence chief Mike Burgess when he said that his agency was investigating a “nest of spies”. As per ABC News, it was in reference to Indian spy agents. “We confronted the foreign spies, and quietly and professionally removed them,” Burgess had said.
The Four Corners investigation underlines that “it has confirmed at least four intelligence officers were asked to leave Australia. Some had been posing as diplomats in India’s high commission. The expulsions were done secretly. They left one by one. The Modi government, laser-focused on turning India into a respected and strong player on the world stage, thought it had gotten away without public embarrassment”.
The 46-minute documentary also shines light on the “strategy” of the Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP) “to infiltrate politics by first getting elected to local government, then state and ultimately federal parliament”. It presents the account of Rahul Jethi, a founding member of OFBJP in Australia, who is an influential political player in the Liberal Party in the northwest of Sydney. He is also a close associate of former immigration minister Alex Hawke.
ABC News said requests for comment from the Indian government were not responded to.
One of the journalists who worked on the documentary is Avani Das, who had earlier served as South Asia Bureau Chief of ABC News in New Delhi. Das was asked to leave India in the last week of April after the Modi government turned down the possibility of extending her visa by citing her journalism.
