Ever since the turn of the century, communism and socialism are rapidly falling out of favour with countries like Brazil who were ruled by communist parties since long, overthrowing the communist regime and opting for the far-right Jair Bolsonaro. The ideology might have been rejected by the world populace in general however, international media outlets continue to romanticise the ideology and running propaganda pieces against those who dared to pulverise communism with case in point being Narendra Modi and Donald Trump.
The international coverage over Kashmir and the CAA has largely towed the line of Islamists as the outlets blatantly showcased their anti-India bias so as to preach minority appeasement. In a stinging rejection to the international media, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati turned down a BBC invitation over their anti-India coverage.
Vempati rejected the invite for an event to mark the occasion of International Women’s Day and sent a letter to the BBC where he claimed that the British broadcaster’s ground reports were “damningly silent” on “murderous and targeted” assaults on the men in uniform. He also communicated to the BBC that their biased coverage only vitiated the atmosphere further while slamming them for not respecting India’s sovereignty.
We are living in the times where the CNN instead of focusing on the historic Namaste Trump event chooses to criticise Trump for his eating habits during his trip to India. The New York Times have reduced themselves to becoming the propaganda machinery for Pakistan’s ruling dispensation with the publication even hosting Pakistan PM Imran Khan at its New York office. The influence of Imran Khan can be clearly seen as the publication recently gave space to a terrorist to air his views and defend his terrorism.
Prasar Bharati has been at the forefront of ensuring neutral coverage as it recently debunked the Wall Street Journal’s dubious report on the brutal murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma. In a blatant case of biased and false reporting the publication had quoted in its report titled, “India’s Ruling Party, Government Slammed Over Delhi Violence” Ankit Sharma’s brother as, “they came armed with stones, rods, knives and even swords; they shouted Jai Shri Ram; some even wore helmets”. Ankit Sharma’s brother Ankur while speaking with Prasar Bharati denied that he ever gave such a statement, “I never gave such a statement to Wall Street Journal. This is a ploy to defame my brother and my family. Wall Street Journal is lying”. It has been a long unfulfilled fantasy of liberals to associate the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ with violence as the publication tries to whitewash the murder of Ankit Sharma by Tahir Hussain and his goons.
A New York Times (NYT) story (read ‘pulp fiction’) about the Delhi riots is particularly unsettling. NYT has gone a step further in the attribution of an anti-Muslim template to the riots. Taking a cue from the Indian mainstream media outlets, the NYT goes on to pin the entire blame on BJP leader, Kapil Mishra. “A local Hindu politician told the police to evict a group of Muslim protesters or he and his men would. Now, 25 have died in some of the worst violence in years.”
Referring to him as “a local politician with India’s leading Hindu nationalist party“. Alluding to his “Upper Caste Hindu” identity, NYT projects him as a turncoat from India’s most “progressive political organisations”- the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). It is not a matter of great surprise that the NYT doesn’t refer to how a Corporator from the same “progressive” political organisation faces allegations of being involved in the murder of an Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer.
India’s soft power despite the best efforts of international media outlets has only grown under the Modi government as after rescuing the citizens of neighbourhood countries from the epicentre of Coronavirus, Wuhan, India also delivered medical supplies amounting to 15,000 kgs to help China battle the novel coronavirus. International media outlets including the BBC can cry to its might and continue with their anti-India propaganda but that won’t change the fact that their opinion matters to zilch.
