Washington: The Biden White House has condemned the alleged online harassment and intimidation of Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui, who questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a press conference last week over alleged discrimination against religious minorities in India. , Due to which fury spread among his supporters. Which supports their contention that such reports are motivated and exaggerated.
“We are aware of reports of that harassment. It is unacceptable. We condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances.” Even cabinet ministers in India joined right-wing trolls in attacking former President Barack Obama, who also appeared to criticize the prime minister on the issue, White House spokesman John Kirby said in response to a question.
“It is contrary to the principles of democracy that were on display during the state visit last week,” Kirby said. Both Obama and Siddiqui were attacked and questioned about their lack of concern about discrimination against Hindu minorities in other countries and in the US. ‘His record on human rights and civil liberties.’ White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre joined the criticism and condemned “any attempt to intimidate or harass a reporter or anyone who is just trying to do their job”. as the controversy sparked social media exchanges over the weekend.
The Wall Street Journal also defended Siddiqui, saying she is a respected journalist known for her honesty and fair reporting. “This harassment of our reporter is unacceptable and we strongly condemn it,” the paper said. Pro-BJP elements continued to attack Siddiqui, Obama and the US media’s approach to the issue, accusing them of “hidden agendas and biases”. exposed. Legitimate.” “It is also freedom of speech. Just as journalists have a right to ask questions, citizens have a right to protest biased reporting.
Duration! If you can’t deal with it, go home,” read one of hundreds of tweets that supported the prime minister’s argument that since India is a democracy and it is widely accepted, no There is also no scope for discrimination against minority. Modi also suggested in the press conference that since the government is constitutionally secular, it is bound to provide services to all people regardless of religion, caste etc. and does so, critics said, adding that private, institutional And social distinctions have been sidelined. More prevalent under the Modi government.
The journalist at the center of the storm, who was trolled as a “Pakistani Islamist”, meanwhile posted a cryptic tweet along with a picture of him cheering for the Indian cricket team with his father, saying, “Since Some chose to talk about my personal background, it seems only right to provide the full picture. Sometimes identities are more complicated than they seem.”
Former President Obama, who actually served as President of the United States Reversed and welcomed the administration’s decision to ban Modi’s entry into the US. He was sent to the White House after his (Modi’s) election in 2014. did not respond to scathing criticism from Rajnath Singh, who questioned his bombing of Muslim countries.
Obama and Modi seem to have developed a personal relationship towards the end of his former term as President, to the extent that So much so that they used to address each other as “Barak” and “Narendra”. But in an interview to Christian Amanpour on the eve of Modi’s meeting with Biden, Obama said that if he had been at President Biden’s meeting with Modi, he would have told the prime minister that “if you are talking about ethnic minorities in India, rights, then there is a strong possibility that India, at some point, will start to fall apart. Behind closed doors or in public – trends that are troubling,” he said. This upset Modi. Fury erupted among supporters, who used the former president’s middle name Hussein to highlight his Muslim heritage and created the hashtag #ObamaDon’tPeach to troll him. Although Obama is a practicing Christian; US officials say it is perfectly legitimate, even desirable, for both countries to criticize each other’s treatment of minorities for the betterment of both societies.
In fact, ahead of Modi’s visit, the White House had said it would convey its concerns on the matter without lecturing Modi. “We do this in a way where we don’t want to lecture or claim that we don’t have challenges. Ultimately, where the question of politics and democratic institutions in India will go will be decided by Indians within India.
It will not be determined by the United States,” said Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser. On Monday, the White House confirmed that the matter was included in the Biden-Modi talks.
“So, as we’ve said many times, when it comes to human rights, the President has never shied away from having a conversation with any world leader, any head of state. He’s done that in the last two years as Vice President and certainly throughout my career as a senator. I’m not going to get into private conversations, but I think we’ve made ourselves very clear on our approach here,” White House press secretary Karin said Jean Pierre. Watch, White House condemns harassment of WSJ reporter Sabrina Siddiqui who questioned PM Modi on human rights
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