White House condemns ‘harassment and intimidation’ of WSJ reporter by trolls – Times of India
WASHINGTON: The Biden White House has condemned the purported online harassment and intimidation of Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui whose question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a press conference last week on the alleged discrimination against religious minorities in India has triggered fury among his supporters, who support with his contention that such reports are motivated and overblown.
“We’re aware of the reports of that harassment. It’s unacceptable. We absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances.” White House spokesperson John Kirby said in response to a question, even as 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.
“It’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit,” Kirby added, as both Obama and Siddique were attacked and questioned about their lack of concern about discrimination against Hindu minorities in other countries, and the US’ own record in the matter of human rights and civil liberties.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joined the smackdown, condemning “any efforts of intimidation or harassment of a journalist or any journalist that is just trying to do their job” as the spat ignited social media exchanges over the weekend.
The Wall Street Journal also defended Siddiqui, saying she is a respected journalist known for her integrity and unbiased reporting. “This harassment of our reporter is unacceptable, and we strongly condemn it,” the paper said.
Pro-BJP elements continued to attack Siddique, Obama, and the US media’s approach to the issue, saying calling out their “hidden agenda and biases” is legitimate.
“This is also freedom of speech. Just as journalists have right to ask questions, citizens also have the right to call out biased reporting. Period! Go home, crybabies, if you cannot deal with this,” read one of hundreds of tweets that supported the prime minister’s contention that since India is a democracy and is widely accepted as such, there is no scope for discrimination against any minorities.
Modi also suggested at the press conference that since the government was constitutionally secular, it is duty-bound to deliver services to all people regardless of religion, caste etc and does so, a response critics said circumvented private, institutional, and societal discrimination they say has become more prevalent under the Modi government.
The journalist at the center of the storm, trolled as a “Pakistani Islamist,” meanwhile posted a cryptic tweet with a photograph of her cheering for the Indian cricket team along with father, saying, “Since some have chosen to make a point of my personal background, it feels only right to provide a fuller picture. Sometimes identities are more complex than they seem.”
Former President Obama, who actually reversed the administration’s decision to ban Modi’s entry to the United States and welcomed him to the White House following his (Modi’s) election in 2014, has not responded to sharp criticism from the Prime Minister’s cabinet colleagues, notably finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who questioned his bombing of Muslim countries.
Obama and Modi appeared to have developed a personal rapport towards the end of the former’s term as President, to the extent of addressing each other as “Barack” and “Narendra.” But in an interview to Christian Amanpour on the eve of Modi’s meeting with Biden, Obama said if he were in President Biden’s position meeting with Modi, he would tell the prime minister that “if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility that India, at some point, starts pulling apart.”
“I do think that it is appropriate for the president of the United States, where he or she can, to uphold those principles and to challenge — whether behind closed doors or in public — trends that are troubling,” he added.
That triggered fury among tetchy Modi supporters, who invoked the former President’s middle name Hussein to highlight his Muslim heritage and generated the hashtag #ObamaDon’tPreach to troll him. Obama however is a practising Christian; he also sometimes carries a figurine of Hanuman in his pocket.
US officials maintain that is perfectly legitimate, even desirable, for both countries to critique each other’s treatment of minorities for the betterment of both societies.
In fact, ahead of Modi’s visit, the White House said it would raise its concerns on the matter without lecturing Modi.
“We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves. Ultimately, the question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It’s not going to be determined by the United States,” Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
On Monday, the White House confirmed that the matter featured in the Biden-Modi talks.
“So, as we’ve said many times, the President has nev- — will never shy away on having those conversations with a world leader, a head of state, when it comes to human rights. He has done that throughout the past two years and through his career as a vice president and certainly as a senator. I’m not going to get into private conversations, but I think we have made ourselves very clear here on — on our view,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said.
“We’re aware of the reports of that harassment. It’s unacceptable. We absolutely condemn any harassment of journalists anywhere under any circumstances.” White House spokesperson John Kirby said in response to a question, even as 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.
“It’s antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during the state visit,” Kirby added, as both Obama and Siddique were attacked and questioned about their lack of concern about discrimination against Hindu minorities in other countries, and the US’ own record in the matter of human rights and civil liberties.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joined the smackdown, condemning “any efforts of intimidation or harassment of a journalist or any journalist that is just trying to do their job” as the spat ignited social media exchanges over the weekend.
The Wall Street Journal also defended Siddiqui, saying she is a respected journalist known for her integrity and unbiased reporting. “This harassment of our reporter is unacceptable, and we strongly condemn it,” the paper said.
Pro-BJP elements continued to attack Siddique, Obama, and the US media’s approach to the issue, saying calling out their “hidden agenda and biases” is legitimate.
“This is also freedom of speech. Just as journalists have right to ask questions, citizens also have the right to call out biased reporting. Period! Go home, crybabies, if you cannot deal with this,” read one of hundreds of tweets that supported the prime minister’s contention that since India is a democracy and is widely accepted as such, there is no scope for discrimination against any minorities.
Modi also suggested at the press conference that since the government was constitutionally secular, it is duty-bound to deliver services to all people regardless of religion, caste etc and does so, a response critics said circumvented private, institutional, and societal discrimination they say has become more prevalent under the Modi government.
The journalist at the center of the storm, trolled as a “Pakistani Islamist,” meanwhile posted a cryptic tweet with a photograph of her cheering for the Indian cricket team along with father, saying, “Since some have chosen to make a point of my personal background, it feels only right to provide a fuller picture. Sometimes identities are more complex than they seem.”
Former President Obama, who actually reversed the administration’s decision to ban Modi’s entry to the United States and welcomed him to the White House following his (Modi’s) election in 2014, has not responded to sharp criticism from the Prime Minister’s cabinet colleagues, notably finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who questioned his bombing of Muslim countries.
Obama and Modi appeared to have developed a personal rapport towards the end of the former’s term as President, to the extent of addressing each other as “Barack” and “Narendra.” But in an interview to Christian Amanpour on the eve of Modi’s meeting with Biden, Obama said if he were in President Biden’s position meeting with Modi, he would tell the prime minister that “if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility that India, at some point, starts pulling apart.”
“I do think that it is appropriate for the president of the United States, where he or she can, to uphold those principles and to challenge — whether behind closed doors or in public — trends that are troubling,” he added.
That triggered fury among tetchy Modi supporters, who invoked the former President’s middle name Hussein to highlight his Muslim heritage and generated the hashtag #ObamaDon’tPreach to troll him. Obama however is a practising Christian; he also sometimes carries a figurine of Hanuman in his pocket.
US officials maintain that is perfectly legitimate, even desirable, for both countries to critique each other’s treatment of minorities for the betterment of both societies.
In fact, ahead of Modi’s visit, the White House said it would raise its concerns on the matter without lecturing Modi.
“We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves. Ultimately, the question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It’s not going to be determined by the United States,” Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
On Monday, the White House confirmed that the matter featured in the Biden-Modi talks.
“So, as we’ve said many times, the President has nev- — will never shy away on having those conversations with a world leader, a head of state, when it comes to human rights. He has done that throughout the past two years and through his career as a vice president and certainly as a senator. I’m not going to get into private conversations, but I think we have made ourselves very clear here on — on our view,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said.
