In 2025, the term Transnational Repression (TNR) burst into global conversations.
It was presented as a framework to defend human rights, but beneath its surface lay a carefully crafted strategy aimed at reshaping perceptions of India on the world stage.
The campaign began with a flood of over 170 articles and reports in prominent Western media outlets, particularly in nations within the Five Eyes alliance: the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, says Disinfolab, which bills itself as Asia’s first DisInfo Lab, aimed at unveiling malicious disinformation and fake news.
In a article titled New Year New Agenda: Deconstructing the Narrative of Transnational Repression against India, DisinfoLab says the narrative consistently framed India as a perpetrator of TNR, leveraging the Khalistani issue to build a case.
Figures like Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun were depicted as victims of repression. Media outlets described Nijjar as a “plumber” and a “Sikh activist,” sidestepping his role as the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and his involvement in terror-related activities.
Social media campaigns amplified these stories, creating a global perception that India was silencing dissent. Yet, the pattern of distorting facts and erasing the complexities of terrorism was not new. In 2021, similar Khalistani narratives were deployed to undermine India’s credibility, but the term TNR gave this effort a new dimension.
Originally conceptualized to address actions by authoritarian regimes like China and Russia, TNR became an unexpected tool for targeting democracies. Freedom House (FH), a U.S.-based organization heavily funded by USAID and the Open Society Foundation, played a pivotal role in institutionalizing this narrative. Its reports and testimonies before U.S. government committees repeatedly accused India of transnational repression.
The turning point came after the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023. A few weeks later, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim that Nijjar’s killing was an act of TNR. By aligning India with regimes like Russia and Saudi Arabia, the narrative gained global traction.
Weaponizing the Narrative
Freedom House’s role in this narrative construction extended beyond reports. Back in February 2021, its first TNR report, Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach, spotlighted Paramjeet Singh Pamma, a known Khalistani terrorist linked to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and KTF. India had sought Pamma’s extradition for years, citing his involvement in terror plots. The report reframed him as a victim of transnational repression, erasing his documented ties to terrorism, says the Disinfolab.report.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Congress passed the TRAP Act of 2021 (Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention Act), which limited the use of INTERPOL mechanisms—hindering India’s efforts to hold figures like Pamma accountable. This set the stage for Freedom House to solidify its TNR narrative, culminating in its prominent presence at the 2023 Summit for Democracy.
Two Indian organizations—Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF)—signed FH’s TNR declaration. Their involvement raised questions about their connections. DEF partnered with U.S.-based USIPI, an entity linked to anti-India lobbying. USIPI’s leadership included individuals tied to groups promoting separatist agendas. Similarly, IFF provided legal aid to controversial figures linked to platforms flagged for hate speech, such as Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab, notes Disinfolab.
Further scrutiny revealed these organizations’ funding sources. Both IFF and DEF had ties to the Thakur Family Foundation (TFF), which had been exposed for financing propaganda against India. Freedom House’s 2024 report on TNR recycled claims from individuals like Raqib Naik and Nitasha Kaul, who had been associated with anti-India lobbying efforts funded by controversial organizations.
A Coordinated Playbook
Freedom House’s methodology mirrored that of the discredited United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF):
1. Seed narratives in media.
2. Amplify them through selective coverage.
3. Back claims with “scholarly” reports.
4. Establish a self-referential ecosystem to create the illusion of legitimacy.
This approach wasn’t confined to the U.S. The narrative expanded across Five Eyes nations, where anti-India stories gained prominence. By labeling India as a perpetrator of TNR, these groups sought to delegitimize India’s actions while shielding their own networks from scrutiny.
As documented by DisinfoLab, the weaponization of TNR reveals a coordinated effort to undermine India’s global standing. By leveraging terms like TNR and amplifying narratives through interconnected networks, organizations like Freedom House constructed a potent geopolitical weapon.
This narrative, though carefully engineered, is a reminder of the power of perception in shaping international relations.
Recognizing and addressing such campaigns is essential to preserving the truth amid a sea of orchestrated disinformation, the DisinfoLab report concludes.
