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18 Feb, 19 tweets, 11 min read
Who is the Man in The Red Jacket?

He's been a 'local' protesting the farmers at Ghazipur.

But he's also been a regular feature elsewhere. | @asfreeasjafri

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri The Wire’s investigation found this red jacket man to be present in Maujpur during the Delhi riots.

Some right-wing channels reported him to be a ‘local’ in Maujpur.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri In another video, a week after the riots, the red jacket man appears at a protest at Jantar Mantar with Ragini Tiwari and Suresh Chavhanke.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri The protest at India Gate called for a complete economic boycott of “jihadis” (8.58 to 9.18 in the video linked this story).

He claims to be from Greater Noida.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri He also talked about “awakening Hindus” and teaching lessons to Muslims in Maujpur.

Many others who appear in this economic boycott video (Vinod Aazad) were also seen protesting against the farmers’ sit-in.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri He's not the only one - The Wire found a number of other 'locals', who had led armed raids at the SInghu farmers' protest site, allegedly enraged by the fake news of the tricolour being replaced at the Red Fort.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri Impersonating “locals”, most of these protestors belonged to far-right organisations like the Hindu Sena, Hindu Army, Hindu Force and Sudarshan Vahini – local Hindutva organisations working in New Delhi.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 1. Vishnu Gupta : A 'local' who also happens to be chief of the Hindu Sena, which labeled JNU protestors “jihadis and terrorists” for protesting a fee hike.

They also threatened violence against the Shaheen Bagh protestors.
thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 2. Sanjeev Bhati : A 'local' who is a BJP supporter and former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJP’s youth wing) leader, and now the founder of a Hindu nationalist organisation called the Hindu Army.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri "These terrorists will have to clear the roads otherwise we will shove their swords in their bottoms,” he said about protestors at Ghazipur.

He's also led a protest against the government demolition of a Hanuman temple in Chandni Chowk.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 3. Deepak Singh : Making a video from his car, Deepak Singh called upon “dharam-yoddhas” to vacate the Singhu border.

Just a few days back Deepak, Vinod Aazad, Ragini Tiwari and several other Hindutva leaders were protesting against “land jihad”.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 4. Vinod Azad : A YouTube channel had called him and his supporters “villagers from 40 nearby villages” who had come to end the protests.

Like others, he can also be spotted in several videos with Ragini Tiwari and Sudarshan TV editor Suresh Chavhanke.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri On November 1, Chavhanke and Ragini Tiwari had called for a protest against love jihad at India Gate.

At the protest, anti-Muslim slogans and calls to commit violence against Muslims were made by the protestors.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 5. Harish Kashyap : He was interviewed as a ‘local’ as well, and in a video of the mob beating a protestor, he can be seen hitting (see 5.20 to 5.50) the protester and also pelting rocks at the farmers.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri The video was uploaded by Khabar India channel.

Before the violence, members leading the mob were interviewed by the anchor.

The reporter referred to protestors as Khalistani terrorists incited by Sikhs For Justice.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri 6. Sanatani Sonu : In his Facebook live from Singhu, Sonu has called for uprooting and chasing the “Khalistanis” back into Punjab.

Last Week Sonu posted his pictures with BJP leader Tejaswi Surya.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri The Outraged 'Common Man' : A young man who has featured in several viral videos where he eloquently attacks and makes violent remarks against dissenters was protesting against farmers while pretending to be a local.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri In 2019-20, he was a “local Delhiite” disturbed by the anti-CAA protests and Muslims.

In another video, during the BJP election campaign in Delhi, he can be spotted amongst a group of BJP supporters, donning a BJP cap and raising violent slogans.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…
@asfreeasjafri He’s just one amongst hundreds of characters.

These characters are never introduced by their name. They are instead introduced as Muslim behen, nationalist maulvi, real farmer, real migrant, harassed voter and of course, “locals”.

thewire.in/communalism/fa…

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