India is currently at the center of the world. Be it emerging as an arms exporter or leading the geopolitical narrative. So, what worries the New York Times so much? Is it actually Kashmir or just the growing influence of India that has put the NYT in a tight spot?
NYT spews venom against the Indian government
The New York Times, often hailed as the biggest newspaper in the West, remains very interested in the Indian political landscape, as the recent article on Kashmir stands testimony to. The NYT recently published an article titled, “Modi’s final assault on India’s press freedom has begun”. The article criticized the Indian government and accused it of practicing “repressive media policies” in Kashmir.
The article said that media outlets are being intimidated in Kashmir, and the Indian government has created an “information vacuum”. “If Modi succeeds in introducing the Kashmir model of information control to the rest of the country, it won’t be just press freedom at risk but Indian democracy itself.”
Also read: For NYT, USA’s failure is “masking a broader recovery” but India’s economic success is a failure
I&B Minister Anurag Thakur responds to the NYT
Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur responded to the article, calling it mischievous and fictitious. He said, “The New York Times’ so-called opinion piece on freedom of the press in Kashmir is mischievous and fictitious, published with a sole motive to spread propaganda about India and its democratic institutions and values”. He also said that the people of India do not need to learn the grammar of democracy from any agenda-driven media.
Along with that, the Union Minister has also launched a scathing attack on the BBC for axing its sports anchor Gary Lineker over his social media activities, accusing the media agency of indulging in malicious propaganda. This step of the minister is being applauded in all sections of society for giving it back to the foreign media and charging it with “media freedom.”
Also read: NYT is worried about Indians without Masks as US registers over a million cases a day
Stable India and the foreign hand
When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was at the top post, there were allegedly two hands pulling the strings: one was the grand old Congress party and the other was the ‘foreign hand’. While the Congress has long been decimated by the BJP, the foreign hand remains and pops up at crucial moments, just like now.
India, the world’s largest democracy, goes to the polls next year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be contesting for the third time. India has been doing remarkably well both in hard and soft power. This is something that is hard to digest for the West, which for very long has been the sole power. And, therefore, you probably get to witness foreign hands meddling with India’s internal affairs.
Be it the BBC’s documentary or the George Soros episode, What fuels foreign hand’s propaganda in India are portals; it can be the BBC or the New York Times. It hardly makes any difference, as the Indian audience is gradually moving out of the colonial mindset and the agenda peddled by foreign media outlets has no impact on the common masses. Further, the way India is dealing with the world, it was not at all necessary to hype up a NYT report to the extent that a union minister needs to respond on the same.
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