Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Government of India has blocked the X (formerly Twitter) account of Austrian economist Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn after he posted a controversial message calling to “dismantle India” and shared a map of Khalistan. The move comes after the post went viral and triggered widespread anger on social media.
Post Sparks Outrage
Fehlinger-Jahn’s message read: “I call to dismantle India into ExIndia. @narendramodi is Russia’s man. We need friends of freedom for @KhalistanNet.” (sic) The post was flagged by both the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which subsequently directed X to restrict access to his account for Indian users. The account is now disabled in India.
Who is Fehlinger-Jahn?
The Austrian economist is the President of the Austrian Committee for NATO Membership of Ukraine, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Austria, and also serves on the board of the Action Group for Regional Economic Integration of the Southern Balkans. However, officials in New Delhi dismissed his importance. A senior MEA source said, “Why give this so much attention? He is a loony. Holds no official position.”
India-Austria Relations
The incident comes just over a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic July 2024 visit to Austria, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 41 years, which coincided with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
