Asif Mahmood 

India fooled the world for years, but his true face has finally been revealed. The world has begun to realize that Hindutva poses a growing threat to human civilization

India has long projected itself as a frontline victim of terrorism and a responsible global security partner. That carefully cultivated false and fabricated image has come under renewed scrutiny following the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement of Operation Hard Ball on July 7, 2026. The multinational investigation targeted India-based transnational criminal networks allegedly involved in assassination, extortion, narcotics trafficking, weapons offenses, human smuggling, and other serious crimes across several countries.

According to the DOJ, authorities in the United States, Canada, and Europe arrested 24 defendants and charged 37 individuals through three federal indictments. These allegations extend well beyond conventional organized crime. They describe sophisticated India-based criminal enterprises allegedly operating across continents, intimidating diaspora communities, conducting transnational criminal activities, and, in some cases, directing operations from inside Indian prisons.

The indictments identify three major organizations: the Bishnoi Enterprise, the Bhagwanpuria Enterprise, and the Dhanda Network. Prosecutors allege that together these networks engaged in murder, targeted killings, extortion, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, weapons offenses, kidnapping, and human smuggling across multiple jurisdictions.

The allegations surrounding the Bishnoi Enterprise are particularly significant. According to the DOJ, Lawrence Bishnoi projected himself publicly as a nationalist while allegedly leading a criminal syndicate operating internationally. Prosecutors further allege that Bishnoi and other jailed gang leaders continued directing criminal activities through smuggled communication devices from Indian prisons. Whether these allegations are ultimately proven in court or not, they raise uncomfortable questions about prison security, institutional accountability, and the ability of organized crime to exploit systemic weaknesses.

One of the most politically sensitive aspects of the case concerns the June 2023 assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, Canada. Reuters reported that U.S. prosecutors charged Lawrence Bishnoi and Satinderjeet Singh “Goldy Brar” with ordering the killing, alleging that the operation was directed from an Indian prison. Importantly, the indictment does not allege direct involvement by the Indian government. Nevertheless, the broader issue remains: Western authorities allege that India-based criminal networks possessed the capability to carry out targeted violence beyond India’s borders and intimidate members of diaspora communities.

The Bhagwanpuria Enterprise presents an equally troubling picture. According to the DOJ, the organization operates across India, North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Prosecutors allege involvement in murder-for-hire, extortion, weapons trafficking, and drug distribution. Particularly damaging are allegations that members of the network collaborated with corrupt officials and exploited Indian law-enforcement mechanisms to facilitate extortion and target perceived rivals.

The Dhanda Network, meanwhile, is accused of operating an international cocaine and methamphetamine smuggling enterprise linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Together, the three indictments portray criminal organizations whose activities extend far beyond India’s borders and whose reach has become a matter of international security concern.

The scale of Operation Hard Ball reflects the seriousness with which Western authorities now view these networks. The investigation involved law-enforcement agencies from the United States, Canada, Spain, and other jurisdictions, resulting in major drug seizures, arrests across multiple countries, and the pursuit of additional fugitives. It also reinforces growing international recognition that organized crime, transnational repression, and national security are increasingly interconnected.

The wider context further complicates India’s position. In September 2025, Canada designated the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity under its Criminal Code, concluding that it operates primarily from India while engaging in murder, extortion, intimidation, and violence targeting diaspora communities. The ongoing U.S. prosecution involving the alleged murder-for-hire plot against Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has similarly intensified concerns about transnational repression and the alleged use of criminal intermediaries.

India will likely argue that these are isolated criminal cases rather than evidence of a broader security problem. It will also emphasize that U.S. indictments stop short of alleging direct Indian government involvement in several of the most prominent cases. Those distinctions are important and should be acknowledged. They do not, however, answer the central questions raised by these investigations. How were allegedly global criminal enterprises able to operate from Indian territory? How could jailed gang leaders allegedly direct international operations from behind bars? And why do multiple Western investigations increasingly point toward India-based networks engaged in cross-border violence and intimidation?

Operation Hard Ball is significant not because of the number of arrests or the quantity of narcotics seized, but because it exposes what Western investigators describe as an expanding ecosystem of India-based transnational organized crime. It challenges the narrative that security threats flow only into India while highlighting allegations that criminal networks rooted in India have exported violence, intimidation, and organized crime across borders.

India stands exposed. Today, it is not Pakistan but Western law-enforcement agencies that are placing India-origin criminal networks under unprecedented international scrutiny. Whether these allegations ultimately result in convictions will be determined by the courts. Yet the investigations themselves have already reshaped the international conversation. They raise fundamental questions about institutional accountability, transnational repression, diaspora security, and the credibility of India’s long-standing security narrative.

So finally the world has begun to realize that Hindutva poses a growing threat to human civilization.