Interview with Sangeeta Godbole on Geneva’s anti-India posters saga

Posters making completely false and malicious messaging about India were noticed by a student on Friday 3rd March on the UN square in Geneva. These are often put up on strategic dates when important UN meetings are scheduled. A student made a video describing her anguish over the shame of having to many times walk past such posters The messaging is getting increasingly bizarre and more malicious. Apart from what this video shows, sometimes these posters proclaim that Assam is occupied by India, India is perpetrating terror through rape, India is effecting forced scavenging, Stop racism in Manipur, and Assam under Indian siege!

 

 

 

The same posters were also there the next morning on Saturday 4th March which a friend in Geneva confirmed. By Saturday evening in Switzerland, when the video was going viral all over India on Twitter, WhatsApp even Instagram, the posters had vanished. Ergo, perpetrators of this shameless messaging are watching Indian social media very closely. Obviously, much before India took any action, these guys had scooted from the place. Either they were scared of the people’s reaction in India or more probably they did not have the required permission from Geneva canton and had not paid the fees. Whatever the reason, they just ran.

 

 

 

By Sunday when India summoned the Swiss ambassador, the posters were already not been there for over 24 hours. Summoning the ambassador was perhaps a damage limitation exercise. The video apparently got over a million views on Twitter alone! It may even have been initiated by Switzerland itself, saying that we need to put a dampener on this negative publicity of Geneva in Indian minds. A SWISS ambassador being summoned especially on a Sunday is otherwise sacrilege! Never heard of it before. Let us now come to who is behind this. The form that is available with the Geneva Canton to put up these posters is shared on Twitter. Clearly, Geneva canton authorities have all the information, and they know exactly who is behind this. Names, addresses, telephone numbers, all of it. The Embassy in Geneva, who ignored these India shaming posters for years will have to take it up with the Geneva Canton. Ask them for the names and addresses of these people. Also, make a request that this should not be allowed.

 

 

 

A point to note is that protests and posters and such going on in that square are nothing unusual. However, they are always about some country's people protesting about their own government. Never about powerful countries. More importantly, there is someone around distributing flyers or speaking about their cause. The India-related posters are a shoot-and-scoot job. No one around to take responsibility. Optically, that is the most powerful location in the world. For every tourist who visits Geneva, a picture outside the UN buildings and in front of the broken chair is a must-do. UNHRC, WIPO, ITU, and the UN overlook that square, with WTO, ICRC, and WHO being just within walking distance. However, these protests being about some random countries, Geneva Canton perhaps couldn't care less, as long as protestors pay, stick to the timings, and keep the place clean. However, India is no longer some random country. This must be brought to the notice of the authorities in Geneva. More importantly, this sentiment should be absorbed by our own actors at the ground level. The messaging is completely fictitious and horrifying and therefore this must be taken up at a bilateral level with Switzerland. Freedom of speech, yes. But if Geneva wants to be a responsible center for international rule-making, it also has certain accountabilities.

 

 

 

Finally, it is up to the Indian citizens, the Indian government, and MEA to ensure that such extremely deceitful, malevolent messaging about India never comes up in public squares anywhere in the world.