GUEST POST
Probably the most prolific of activists in the NKT/ISC jihad[*] against the Dalai Lama et al of recent has been the somewhat inappropriately tagged ‘Indy Hack‘ (for those not in the know, ‘indy hack’ is common parlance for ‘independent journalist’, both epithets here being thoroughly inappropriate). Indy, a clear contender for the position of ISC Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, has been a prolific poster recently and has been the driving force behind several NKT/ISC web projects, most notably the ‘arebuddhistsracist.com’ site, yet another thinly veiled attempt to characterize Kelsang Gyatso’s personal vendetta against the Dalai Lama as a battle for human rights.
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Nevertheless, despite clear devotion to the cause and a seeming obsession with publishing even the most insignificant, supposedly relevant minutiae, suddenly and without warning on November 13, 2015, Indy went to ground, announcing on Twitter that “Due to recent events I will be taking a hiatus whilst I review my position on the #Dalai Lama controversy. No new articles/tweets for now thx”. Simultaneously and again without warning, the “Are Buddhists Racist?” site disappeared into the mists of the internet graveyard.*
One might assume that Indy was simply taking a break after a hard-fought, though relatively fruitless media campaign during the Dalai Lama’s recent US tour. But look again at the “racist” website and it soon becomes apparent why, for a number of reasons, Indy may have very suddenly ‘chosen’ to “review his position”.
PROF ROBBIE BARNETT & THE CONFIRMATION THAT NEVER WAS
Indy’s most recent ‘scoop’ was the supposed revelation that one of the world’s leading academics on the Tibet issue had confirmed unequivocally that there really was a ban on Shugden practitioners in the Tibetan exiled community. As always, this “confirmation” was used to justify the NKT/ISC protest campaign against the Dalai Lama.
However, it turned out that this revelation was in reality a deliberate misinterpretation of Barnett’s words, twisted beyond recognition so as to provide ammunition for the NKT/ISC jihadi[*] hate campaign. Moreover, the sentiments Barnett expressed were part of a private communication in a letter that was clearly marked ‘off the record’, ie not to be reproduced and not for public consumption. Despite Barnett’s requests for them to be removed, the misinterpreted comments remained.
In acting in this cavalier manner, Indy was actually in flagrant violation of Articles 5 and 7 of the National Union Journalist’s ‘Code of Conduct‘, by falsely attributing sentiments and posting comments which could cause significant damage to Barnett’s reputation and standing. Barnett, for many years a journalist himself, would surely have known this and would also have known that, in such cases, normal procedure would be to report the journalist concerned to the NUJ’s Ethics Commission. The Commission would then normally, as a matter of course and at minimum, take disciplinary action against the individual concerned.
Perhaps here then, we have the reason why Indy chose so suddenly and without warning, to retract the website and take a well-earned break from Buddhist jihadi[*] politics.
Or perhaps not.
If this were the real reason for Indy’s hiatus and the death of the website, it would have been sufficient to simply remove the content relating to Barnett and the revelation of his alleged confirmation of a ban. The removal of the whole site then, reveals that something more is afoot than a simple attempt by Indy to avoid disciplinary action from the NUJ. A quick perusal of the content gives us clear evidence for the real reasons behind the mystery.
THE REAL REASON: ‘LAMAGATE’
The other ‘big story’ on Indy’s website was the so-called ‘Lamagate affair’. In Indy’s words, “Lamagate refers to the hacking scandal that surrounds the Dalai Lama’s trip to the US in fall 2014. It centres around the Dalai Lama’s most trusted US friend and confidant, Professor Robert Thurman, who allegedly tried to solicit members of Anonymous to engage in computer hacking on his behalf.”
On 29th October 2014, Professor Thurman was alleged to have published a tweet asking how to get the help of the Anonymous group to “get info out” about certain individuals he supposedly wished to target. In the following hours, Thurman is said to have published a series of tweets identifying specific Twitter accounts to target, identifying each as, “key Anti HHDL Shugden Twitter Spam Accounts”, and followed the account name with the tags #anon and #OpShugden. #OpShugden was devised by another Twitter user (@OpTsampa) who appeared to be working alongside Thurman in his campaign. @OpTsampa also tweeted an offer of 50 BitCoins ($16,967) to anyone who could link the most accounts together that had been identified by Thurman.
Such actions are potentially illegal under US and international law and so, in a deliberate attempt to implicate Thurman in a very embarrassing and very public controversy, Indy produced a handy “how to” guide on the site, entitled “How to indict Robert Thurman”. The guide provided contact details for both the FBI and NYPD, along with the following suggested text for inclusion in a complaint:
It is alleged that Professor Robert A. Thurman (@BobThurman) did knowingly solicit others to commit computer hacking and provided information to direct said computer hacking against several users of Twitter in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030 (a)(2). On October 29th 2014 it is alleged Professor Robert A. Thurman directed computer hackers associated with the ‘Anonymous’ group to hack Twitter’s computer servers and extract information about the following users: @tompotter1945, @TalkingTibet, @wisdomdakini2, and @Vajralight. I am making a formal complaint about alleged criminal activity by Professor Robert A.Thurman and asking you to investigate whether any criminal activity has taken place.
As a result, according to Indy, multiple reports containing the above statement were submitted, both to the FBI and the NYPD.
One might wonder why, in the face of such a potentially successful campaign tactic, Indy would choose to withdraw the website and assume radio silence. Increasingly, everything points to him being told to do so because someone in the upper echelons at the NKT/ISC knew something that we don’t, or that we didn’t UP UNTIL NOW.
Sadly for Indy (and all his NKT/ISC associates who have forwarded these allegations and incitements via Facebook and Twitter and therefore are all equally culpable and liable in the eyes of the law), it is beginning to look very much like these posts attempting to incite Anonymous and offering funds to engage in illegal acts, allegedly by Thurman and his associates, are actually ‘false flags’.
False flag tactics are operations designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. Two of the most famous examples in cult history are the Nazi’s Reichstag fire and Scientology’s “Operation Freakout”.
In the former, an arson attack was alleged by the Nazis to have been carried out by a Dutch Communist and this was cited as evidence that Communists were plotting against the German government. Hitler, then Chancellor urged the government to pass an emergency decree to counter the “ruthless confrontation of the Communist Party of Germany”. The government subsequently instituted mass arrests of Communists, including all of the Communist parliamentary delegates. With their bitter rivals the Communists gone and their seats empty, the National Socialists easily won subsequent elections and thus allowed Hitler to consolidate his power. Several historians claim the Reichstag arson was actually planned and ordered by the Nazis as a ploy to win those elections.
In “Operation Freakout”, in retaliation for writing The Scandal of Scientology, members of the Church of Scientology stole stationery from the author Paulette Cooper’s home and used that stationery to forge bomb threats and have them mailed to a Scientology office. The Guardian’s Office also had a plan for further operations to discredit Cooper known as Operation Freakout, but several Scientology operatives were arrested in a separate investigation and the plan failed.
Whichever example you choose, you get the picture. False flagging is disingenuously making it appear that an enemy has committed a misdemeanor which they have not, in order to enrage opinion and/or incite action against them. It seems increasingly clear that the Lamagate scandal, along with its seeming attempt to involve Anonymous and allegations of bribery for hacking, are all manifestations of false flagging.
Regardless of who is responsible for the ‘flagging’. the problem for Indy and his bosses is that his original claims created a meme, a meme which spread like wildfire and which led to significant online trolling of Thurman, not to mention defamation of both Thurman and the Dalai Lama himself.
Of course, as an exemplary Buddhist, the Dalai Lama is highly unlikely to instigate defamation proceedings for defamation; had he chosen to do so, the NKT/ISC propaganda war against him would have ended long ago. Perhaps though, Thurman’s worldly whims will lead him to act.
Such action however could prove costly and Indy has been quite security conscious, thus making any investigation less than easy. Indy’s website, for example, was run via a proxy server, based in Malaysia, in what was no doubt a covert attempt to implicate Tsem Tulku and his disciples in the emerging scandal, a further escalation in the ugly war that is developing between these two extreme factions in the ISC camp.
Actually though, Thurman need not worry and can keep his money in the bank for, by inciting the FBI to become involved, the NKT/ISC followers have ensured that an investigation WILL take place into all aspects of the controversy-BOTH SIDES WILL BE.
THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED
What this means is that all the significant resources of the FBI will be brought to bear; ISPs, identities, allegiances and all will be forcefully revealed and the characteristic machinations underlying the NKT/ISCs operations laid bare. And if it does turn out that the Lamagate scandal is an elaborate stunt on the part of the NKT/ISC, they will be liable to both criminal proceedings, proceedings which could result in imprisonment, and significant loss of funds, both sanctions applying to Indy, his co-conspirators who have re-tweeted his falsehoods and defamation and even the NKT itself.
So, if you’re wondering whether Indy decided to take a ‘hiatus’ of his own volition, here’s your answer. If you want to know whether he jumped or was he pushed, look no further. He was pushed.
[*] The blog owner questions the context of the use of the words jihad or jihadi. (See the comment section.)
* A PDF copy of the ‘arebuddhistsracist’ site for private or research purposes can be obtained by contacting the blog owner.
Guest posts do not necessarily reflect the point of view of the blog owner. They are added to allow a constructive discussion from different angles. Most guest posts are written anonymously because the authors wished to be anonymous. However, the real name of the author of any guest post and his or her background is known to the blog owner.
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