NEW DELHI: The White House has condemned the reported online harassment of WSJ reporter Sabrina Siddiqui for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi on human rights issues during his recent visit to the US. It is reported that Siddiqui has been trolled online for posing a question to Modi in his joint press conference with US President Joe Biden.
“This harassment was completely unacceptable and antithetical to the very principles of democracy that were on display last week during PM Modi’s State visit,’’ said US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Monday. Siddiqui had raised a question on the rights of minorities in India to Modi.
“There are many human rights groups who say your government has discriminated against religious minorities and sought to silence its critics. What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and uphold free speech?” she had asked.
Responding to Siddiqui’s question, Prime Minister Modi strongly defended India’s record on democracy and his government’s performance and human rights, saying that the basic foundation stone of his government has been ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’.
“In India’s democratic values, there is absolutely no discrimination, neither based on caste, creed, age nor any kind of geographic location. India is a democracy. And as President Biden also mentioned, in India and America, in both countries, democracy is in our DNA. Democracy is our spirit. Democracy runs in our veins. We live in a democracy,” the PM said in his reply.
The query, however, kicked off a storm online. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’re certainly here, at the White House, under this administration, committed to the freedom of the press, which is why we had the press conference last week.” We certainly condemn any efforts of intimidation or harassment of a journalist or any journalist who is just trying to do their job. And so, I just want to be very clear about that,” Jean-Pierre said.