An advertisement published in the Wall Street Journal, a leading US newspaper, is in controversy these days. In this advertisement, 10 senior Indian government officials, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, have been described as ‘Wanted’ while terming them as anti-foreign investors.
This advertisement has created a big controversy in India. The advertisement has been published at a time when Nirmala Sitharaman is in the US to attend the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meetings.
In this advertisement published on October 13, apart from Nirmala Sitharaman, Antrix Corp Chairman Rakesh Shashibhushan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Supreme Court Judge Hemant Gupta, V Ramasubramaniam, Special PC (Prevention of Corruption) Act Judge Chandrashekhar, CBI DSP Ashish Pareek, Enforcement Directorate (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman. The names of ED Assistant Director R Rajesh and Deputy Director A Sadiq Mohammad are also included in this advertisement.
The advertisement alleges that they have made India unsafe for investors by misusing government institutions. There is also a QR code at the bottom of the ad, which when scanned opens the website of American think tank Frontiers of Freedom.
Kanchan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting claimed that the campaign is being run by Ramachandran Viswanathan, former CEO of Devas Multimedia.
He tweeted, “It is shameful for fraudsters to weaponize US media. This shocking disgusting ad has been published to target India and its government. Do you know who is behind this? This campaign by fugitive Ramchandra Viswanathan who was the CEO of Dewas.”