What do you think of when we talk about anti-India content or Hinduphobia in Western and global media? Maybe you think of BBC, New York Times, Al Jazeera and at the most Washington Post.
But ever heard of DW News? It is a German news website and it has published several reports that reek of anti-India sentiment. Be it Kashmir or any other internal matter of India, DW News is routinely publishing anti-India content.
DW News calls CM Yogi Adityanath an ‘extremist’
Presently, DW News is in news over its recent report that states, “Can ‘Hindu extremist’ Yogi Adityanath become India’s next premier?”
Calling a sitting CM and a Mahanth an extremist, an adjective normally used for terrorists.
The article is high on rhetoric, low on substance, and written by an unknown casual columnist.@GermanyinIndia @eoiberlin must take note. pic.twitter.com/gauNW0PVJD
— Atul Kumar Mishra (@TheAtulMishra) February 12, 2022
Now, “extremist” is a term used to describe terrorists or radicals. And it is utterly ridiculous that such an adjective is being used for someone like Yogi Adityanath- the sitting Chief Minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh and also the present Mahant of the Gorakhnath Math, which is revered in India.
The report is full of predictable rhetoric against CM Yogi Adityanath, but it is the title of the report that sounds rather shocking.
Read More: Dear DW, is calling a sitting CM and a Mahanth an “extremist” fine with you?
Continuous propaganda on Kashmir
Remember how the Western and global media had started spreading anti-India sentiment as soon as Article 370 of the Constitution of India was revoked in the year 2019.
Now, Article 370 was a provision of India’s Constitution. If India wanted to abrogate it, that was India’s choice. No one else should be concerned about it and this is how most of the Western governments reacted too. They agreed that it is India’s internal matter.
But western news outlets like DW News had other plans. The German media house has published several reports on Kashmir, many of which reek of sheer propaganda against India. One of the reports published in 2020 questioned, “A thinly-veiled attempt to change Kashmir’s demography or a step towards better integration: How is India’s decision to revoke Article 370 a year ago reshaping the region?”
A thinly-veiled attempt to change Kashmir's demography or a step towards better integration: How is India's decision to revoke Article 370 a year ago reshaping the region?@ayakibrahim explains in this episode of UNPACKED. pic.twitter.com/lkeept4q9W
— DW News (@dwnews) August 5, 2020
Another DW report states, “Is the media crackdown in Kashmir escalating?” It even claimed, “Journalists based in Indian-administered Kashmir have reported a rise in threats and intimidation tactics since the Modi-led government brought the region under its direct control in 2019.” What you should observe is the reference to India’s Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir as “India-administered Kashmir” as if Kashmir was not a de jure part of India.
And there is more such propaganda. One report states, “Kashmir: Victims demand justice in Indian army killings.” The report goes on to state, “Rights activists and family members of victims say the Indian army in Kashmir is using a legal loophole to get away with murder.” And there is of course a report about the “pellet victims of Kashmir”.
DW News often skips attention, because people are more worked out about what BBC, Al Jazeera or NYT write. But as you can notice DW News coverage about Kashmir can get rather anti-India in character.
Anti-Modi reports
A uniform pattern in foreign media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power has been to tarnish PM Modi’s image. Relying on rhetoric, speculations and opinions instead of facts has been a part of Western media’s India coverage.
A DW News report for example states, “Religious polarization: Is India following Pakistan’s path?” It claims, “Prime Minister Modi’s alleged anti-Muslim policies have triggered mass protests in India. Liberal activists say that the South Asian country, once a beacon of secularism in the region, must not emulate Pakistan.”
Again, such remarks are based on conjectures and surmise, and mere opinions.
And there is also a lot of groundless propaganda about discrimination against minorities. When the CAA-NRC protests were at their peak in India, DW News reported, “India proposes nationwide citizen’s list, Muslims fear discrimination.” Again, this is simply plain rhetoric reverberating in the German news outlet.
Lately, DW News has been publishing reports postulating that there have been attacks against Christians in India. One of the reports alleged, “India’s anti-conversion laws fuel attacks on Christians.” It claimed, “In India, new laws cracking down on religious conversion are emboldening right-wing Hindu groups to carry out attacks on Christian churches. Critics say the groups abuse the laws to push their own agenda, without facing any consequences themselves.”
The true picture of how non-discriminatory conversion laws are only intended to prevent conversions by use of force or inducement has not been highlighted.
DW News is doing simply what all other Western liberal media outlets do, that is, back anti-India propaganda. It has missed attention all this while only because the focus was on the more usual suspects. Yet, DW News has been equally active in pushing anti-India content.
