WESTERN MEDIA GETS HYSTERICAL AHEAD OF INDIAN ELECTIONS
THEY REFLECT THE ABSOLUTE DESPERATION OF ANTI-INDIA FORCES. INDIA NEEDS TO BE VIGILANT AND FOIL THESE NEFARIOUS, SINISTER FORCES FROM DESTABILISING THE COUNTRY.
A mass hysteria has broken out amongst the Western media as Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads towards a third election victory. They indicate an absolute desperation of anti-india forces. India needs to be vigilant and foil these nefarious, sinister forces from destabilising the country both during the elections and after the formation of a new government. Here are some examples of the Western media propaganda against PM Modi and the BJP:
On 20 April two articles appeared in the Guardian to which I responded. The first one was by Kenneth Joseph Mohammed, an “anti-corruption accountant” from Trinidad and Tobago. He writes for the Guardian. He lists many achievements of India under Modi but claims there is still widespread poverty. He obviously does not know or does not want to acknowledge that under Modi millions of people have come out of poverty. He does not know that millions of bank accounts have been opened for the poor so that they can access their money without any bureaucracy. Mohammed then quotes Dr Ambedkar who in 1945 had described the evils of caste discrimination. He contends that nothing has changed, which a biased and cynical observation. Under Modi we have had a Dalit President of India and equal opportunities are available to all. Next he mentions violence against women. India is far behind many Western countries in this aspect. Coming from Trinidad and Tobago, Kenneth Joseph Mohammed has forgotten India’s help to his country with Covid vaccine. India made a humanitarian donation of 570,000 doses of vaccines to countries in the 15-member Caribbean Community bloc, known as CARICOM, as well as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the rollout just as India was beginning its own domestic vaccination campaign. Kamina J. Smith, Foreign Minister of Jamaica, gave a glowing tribute to PM Modi for supplying free vaccines. The second article in the Guardian is by none other than the infamous Hannah Ellis Petersen. She contends that Modi is a cult leader. She says Modi refers to Indians as “Modi Ka Pariwar”—modi’s family. It is a case of lost in translation and lack of cultural understanding. In India, to call someone a part of your family is to show your deep love. It’s not a cult following. She further charges that Modi not only wants a cult following, he also wants to be a spiritual leader. As proof she says that Modi acted as a high priest of Hinduism at the consecration of the Ram idol at the temple in Ayodhya. Obviously, coming from a Christian background, Hannah is ignorant about Hindu religious practices. Hannah goes on to quote a professor of political science at JNU. D. Bhattacharya says that Modi wants to go down as the most popular, most important leader of modern India—bigger even than Gandhi. Hannah reminds us of the Gujarat riots under Modi in 2002, but does not say a word about Modi being cleared of any wrongdoing by the country’s Supreme Court. Hannah’s usual litany of complaints continue. Modi pursues crony capitalism, she says. A completely incomprehensible argument. All Western countries are capitalist and therefore pursue capitalism in all its forms. Almost all those appointed to the unelected House of Lords make a huge donation to a political party. That certainly is crony capitalism. There is a growing chasm between the rich and the poor, she notes disapprovingly. In Britain too there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. 10% of all households hold 45% of all wealth. The poorest 50% by contrast own just 5%. Millions of people rely on free food banks and school children rely on free school meals. According to the Centre for Social Justice, the UK is in danger of slipping back into a Victorian-age gap between mainstream society and an impoverished underclass.
Lastly, to her favourite trope but with even more vengeance. There is a state sponsored persecution of India’s 200 million Muslims she says, a lie she repeats all the time. How can a state persecute 200 million people? The founding fathers of the Guardian accumulated their wealth from slave trade. That persecution has no parallel. The owner of the Guardian has issued an apology for the role the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery and announced a decade-long programme of restorative justice.
Lastly the Guardian seems to have found a new ally in Christophe Jaffrelot, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s College. He accuses Modi of terrorising and intimidating those who oppose him. There is not a shred of evidence in this canard. The professor is guilty of arrogance and a self-righteous superiority complex.
Even the Australian and the tiny New Zealand media try to give moral lectures to India. Last year, Australians rejected a referendum which proposed greater rights for the indigenous Aborigines. The colonisers who took over Aboriginal land could not even agree to give greater rights to them and this was in 2023. The same horror continues to be committed on the Maoris in New Zealand. Between 1910 and 1970, tens of thousands of aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their homes and put in adoptive families and institutions. Maori land was usurped and the Maoris were converted to Christianity.
The biggest election exercise in history is taking place in India and yet the agendadriven Western media cannot see any good. The only saving grace is that the British, Australian, American people as well as people of New Zealand are not party to this India hatred. They like Indian people and respect the contribution they make to their countries. It is crucial to distinguish between the two.